Tech's Carmichael, Worilds were destined to be teammates

BLACKSBURG — This is the story of a strong friendship forged by fate and family intervention. It’s a story of two fiercely competitive, loyal, committed teammates who bonded the second they shook hands.

It’s about two young men — one from New Jersey, the other from Maryland — who were meant to be together and just so happened to end up on the same college campus in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Rashad “Rock” Carmichael and Jason Worilds, both defensive starters for the No. 20 Virginia Tech football team, knew of each other before they knew each other. Carmichael’s late father, Bernard Carmichael, and Worilds’ older brother, Tyshon Daye, were stationed together at an Air Force base in Maryland.

They often talked about how Rashad and Jason were a lot alike and how great they would get along. The problem was they lived so far apart.

Daye played flag football with Bernard, and young Rashad would tag along to watch the games. When Daye met Rashad, he was moved by how similar he was to his younger brother.

“He would always tell me, ‘I have a brother. Y’all are the same age. It’s crazy. Y’all remind me of each other,’” said Carmichael, a junior cornerback. “He was like, ‘You kind of react the same way. It’s crazy how much you guys are alike.’ So I was like, ‘Whatever, this guy’s in Jersey,’ so I never paid it any attention.”

Carmichael’s dad met Worilds, now a junior defensive end at Tech, while up in Jersey for a military camp. He seconded what Daye said.

“He came back and was like, ‘I’m telling you, there’s something about you two guys. You two guys need to be together.’ That’s what he told me,” Carmichael said.

Again, Carmichael didn’t think anything of it. What was he going to do, catch a train to New Jersey for a chance meeting with some kid he had only heard about?

As fate would have it, the two would eventually meet.

Carmichael was sitting in the Lane Stadium crowd at the spring game before his freshman season at Tech when he heard his name. “Rock, Rock, Rock,” the voice called out.

It was Daye, who was sitting with Worilds. Turns out, Worilds and Carmichael didn’t have to make any effort to meet each other. Unbeknownst to them, they both committed to play football at Virginia Tech.

They became fast friends the moment they met.

“We just clicked,” Worilds said.

Coming to Tech has been a blessing for the two players and for the Hokies.

Worilds and Carmichael are two of the team’s biggest defensive playmakers. Worilds leads the team in tackles for loss (seven) and quarterback hurries (26) and is tied for the lead in sacks (3.5). Carmichael leads the team and is tied for second in the ACC with five interceptions.

Both play with non-stop intensity on every play. Worilds has had to fight off double teams all season, but he hasn’t backed down, hence his high hurry count. Carmichael started the season as Tech’s “other” starting cornerback, second-fiddle to standout Stephan Virgil.

He stepped up when Virgil went down in the season-opener with a knee injury and has come down with some critical interceptions, including one last week against ECU that sealed the Hokies’ 16-3 win.

“I used to always tell him, ‘If you’re going to play defense, I don’t want to see no soft cornerbacks. You can’t play soft. There’s no such thing as playing soft,’” Worilds said. “He never does. He’s vicious on the field. We sparked that way instantly.”

Preparation is another area in which Worilds and Carmichael see eye to eye. They’re both very physically gifted players, but their on-field success is a testament to their diligent film study.

Worilds was a fervent film-watcher even before he arrived at Tech, studying the moves of his favorite pass rushers, like Dwight Freeney and Corey Moore. He helped turn Carmichael on to the benefits of film study.

Carmichael even cancelled his cable account so that he wouldn’t be distracted from studying game tape.

“I have a five-disc DVD changer and probably the only movie in there (that’s not game tape) is ‘300.’ … Even if I’m not studying game film, it’s always on,” said Carmichael, who watches hours of tape every day. “I just put it on to entertain my eyes.”

All that time studying has helped Carmichael, who was lightly recruited out of high school, become a consistent performer in the defensive secondary. He hasn’t reached the level of past Tech great cornerbacks like Brandon Flowers and Macho Harris, but he’s inching toward that neighborhood.

“If he continues with the consistency and level of play that he has, he’ll be able to be mentioned with the likes of Brandon and Macho,” Tech defensive secondary coach Torrian Gray said. “I’m leery of talking in those terms now … but if he keeps going like this, then maybe you mention him in those ranks.”

Worilds knew his friend was capable of playing at such a high level.

“I expected it from him,” Worilds said. “Where other people didn’t see enough of him to know what he was capable of, he’s probably one of the most dynamic athletes we have on the team.

“He’s a game changer. He came in and played how he expected.”

Carmichael and Worilds have seen and experienced a lot together at Tech. Worilds helped his friend through the difficult time after Bernard Carmichael’s death last summer. He actually broke the sad news to Rashad.

The two are inseparable, and they’ll forever be linked by Virginia Tech football. They’ll forever be linked by friendship.

As Carmichael finished talking to a reporter Tuesday after practice, he looked over at the door to the Hokies indoor practice facility. Worilds was sitting there waiting for him to finish talking.

“I look at him as my bigger brother,” Carmichael said of Worilds, who is six months older and almost 50 pounds heavier. “Like real brothers, that’s how we feel. Like blood brothers. That’s the kind of friendship we have.”