Lawrence Timmons was a former four-star prospect out of Florence, South Carolina. In high school Timmons was a two-way player on the football team and also ran track. His senior season he had over 150 tackles and 800 receiving yards while finishing sixth in the state long jump finals. He ran a 4.6 40-yard dash.
As a true freshman at Florida State in 2004 Timmons largely played a backup and special teams role, but he appeared in all twelve games. As a sophomore he backed up Ernie Sims, but still managed 35 tackles and was fourth on the team in sacks with three.