Offseason Blog, Vol. 1 (Worilds Walks Away edition) ...

Jason Worilds, star defensive end for the Hokies, is skipping his senior season and heading for the NFL.

Whoa. And again, I say, Whoa. I didn’t see this one coming. Not at all. Not even a little bit.

I don’t think the coaches did, either, judging by Charley Wiles’ reaction below. And why would they? Here’s what Worilds had to say to us hacks on Dec. 14:

“We didn’t win anything. What did we win this year? The team goals are still intact. We still have a chance to achieve those (in 2010). I definitely want to be a part of that.”

That, after he said he hadn’t submitted his paperwork to the NFL’s underclassmen advisory board. “I’m not really interested in it right now. I’m trying to focus on my grades, trying to focus on graduating, and trying to focus on this season.”

Three weeks later, he’s gone. Now the Hokies will have to replace three-fourths of their starting defensive line next season – including both ends.

In the past three seasons (and mostly in the last two), Worilds amassed 132 tackles, 34 for loss, 15 sacks, 67 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and a blocked kick.

Nekos Brown, a senior end, also had 112 career tackles and 11.5 sacks. Brown and Worilds will likely be replaced by junior Steven Friday and sophomore Chris Drager (who moved from tight end this year). Those two have zero career starts and 34 tackles and six sacks between them.

Obviously, spring practice will be HUGE for the D-line in Blacksburg. We’ll tackle that in a couple of months. For now, here are Worilds and Wiles on today’s big surprise ...

D-END JASON WORILDS

OPENING STATEMENT: “After considerable thought and prayer and consulting with my family, I decided to forego my senior year at Virginia Tech and enter the NFL draft. I would like to thank Coach Beamer first and foremost for believing in me and coming to recruit me and bringing me here. I would like to thank Coach Foster and Coach Wiles for working with me closely over the years, as well as everybody else in the staff that has supported me and brought me to where I am today.”

ON WHETHER HE FILED HIS PAPERWORK WITH THE NFL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (WHICH HE SAID LAST MONTH HE WOULDN’T) AND WHAT FEEDBACK HE MIGHT’VE GOTTEN: “I did. I went and submitted my papers. I really don’t want to get into the details of that, but I did submit my papers and I received feedback.”

ON WHAT CHANGED FROM SAYING HE HAD ‘UNFINISHED BUSINESS’ LAST MONTH: “When we had talked, it was kind of premature in the process. I hadn’t put my papers in at that point. After consulting with my family, we thought it would be best for me to do so. So after doing that and taking everything into consideration, I came up with a different direction.”

ON WHETHER HE THINKS HE’LL PLAY LINEBACKER OR D-END AT THE NEXT LEVEL: “I’m pretty sure, when working out for teams, I’ll do linebacker drills also. I’m comfortable with doing either or. I think I’m versatile enough to handle the outside linebacker position as well as playing with my hand down. I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

ON HIS PREFERENCE OF POSITIONS: “I’m a football player. I’m just happy with the opportunity I have to play. Position-wise, I really don’t have any personal preference. I just want to get out there on the field and do what I love to do. I have heard different things. It really depends schematically on what the team runs. The teams that run 4-3 would have me as a down lineman. Teams who run the 3-4 would have me standing up as the outside linebacker. It really depends ... where they think I fit.” ON WHETHER THE ROOKIE SALARY CAP IN 2011 HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM LEAVING EARLY: “No, that didn’t. I based my decision solely on my assessment of myself and how I feel and where I’m at with myself athletically and just with my career as a whole. I’ve actually been going back and forth as far as making my decision, consulting my family for the past week or so. We came to this decision recently.”

ON HOW HARD IT WAS TO LEAVE THIS TEAM, ESPECIALLY WITH HIGH HOPES FOR 2010: “Extremely difficult. The camaraderie you get from playing with your teammates and being with those guys every day in and out, you grow a strong bond in that locker room. It was extremely difficult, but I also know they understand that I had to do what was best for me at this time. They understand that. I expect them to go on and win that national championship.”

ON WHERE HE HOPES TO BE SELECTED: “The draft is so tricky. I would hope to be a first-day guy. With the draft being so tricky, you really never know what’s going to be what. I just expect to work hard. And I know that if I put my best foot forward, I can live with wherever I’m drafted.”

ON THE ULTIMATE DECIDING FACTOR: “It really came down to how I felt. My family has done a great job in supporting me and trying to provide as much information for me to make a wise decision on my own. If anyone was to ask, I would say I feel as though it was time for me.”

ON HOW MUCH HE TALKED TO TECH’S D-LINE COACH CHARLEY WILES: “I talked to coach Wiles today, and I’ve been talking to him on and off throughout the week. They support me in whatever I do. The support and the love that I get from the coaches is of the utmost. He told me, straight-up, ‘We would love to have you back, of course, and have another year and help us do what we set out to do. But you have to do what’s best for you.’ And he told me that the supported my decision. And he wished the best for me.”

ON HIS TECH CAREER, HOW HE’D SUM IT UP: “I would say a learning experience. Throughout the years, I’ve learned so much, not only academically, but just life lessons, just being around the guys and being around the coaches and them teaching us how to be men, just teaching us how the real world works, how we need to conduct ourselves in order to be successful in the real world. I would say it was definitely a learning experience.”

ON WHETHER THERE’S ANY CHANCE HE CHANGES HIS MIND AGAIN. LIKE MACHO HARRIS IN 2007: “I believe this is my final decision. I think I wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, if it wasn’t. To my knowledge, this is my final decision.”

ON LEAVING BEHIND CORNERBACK RASHAD CARMICHAEL, A JUNIOR AND CLOSE FRIEND: “It was extremely hard to move on from that type of bond. The bond that me and Rock have is bigger than football. He understood. We didn’t talk much. This is kind of a decision I had to make for me. We spoke on it, but whatever decision I made, he was behind me 100 percent. And I know that my teammates are also. With that type of support, I felt as though I could do anything.”

ON THE EXCITEMENT OF THE NFL DREAM ABOUT TO COME TRUE: “I’m extremely excited. It’s bittersweet, but the Hokie Nation has been great to me, the fans and the coaches and everybody had been great to me and my family. It’s bitter in that aspect that I’m closing that chapter in my life. But it’s also sweet because it’s … inaudible … I’m taking another step in my life, and I’m taking another step toward my maturity in becoming a man. I’m just excited to see what the future holds.”

D-LINE COACH CHARLEY WILES

ON WHETHER HE WAS SHOCKED BY WORILDS’ DECISION: “I wasn’t shocked. I just hadn’t heard anything about it. It hadn’t been talked about. The first time I heard about it was the Tuesday before our bowl game. He just said he filed his paperwork. He came and saw Coach Beamer and said he was considering it. The timing of it, I wasn’t going to speak to Jason before we play a game. Obviously something got going in his mind. Something got in his ear. And he decided to go.”

ON WORILDS’ PRO PROSPECTS: “Is he a pro football player? Yeah. But would I love and wish for him to come back? Heck yeah. He gave of himself the entire time he was here; he was a great player for us.”

ON HOW MUCH THIS HURTS THE BIG GOALS THIS TEAM HAD FOR 2010: “We would love to have Jason back. I’m not going to talk about what might have been. Now I have to move forward and coach the kids we have. Honestly, I’m excited, because now people are going to wonder if we’re going to be any good, and we’re going to coach the kids we have and we’re going to go play great defense, like we do year after year. I hope it turns out positive for him. I hope he comes back and watches us play. I hope everything turns out good.”

ON WHETHER SOPHOMORE CHRIS DRAGER AND JUNIOR STEVEN FRIDAY ARE THE LIKELY STARTERS RIGHT NOW AT END: “You’d have to say that. They’re the two top back-up kids. Then of course we’ve recruited and we’re going to continue to recruit this year. You just never know who’s going to step up. Darren Evans goes down and Ryan Williams steps in and has a great year. When you’re recruiting good players, they’re going to go to the NFL. That’s a good thing.”

ON WHETHER WORILDS EVER ASKED HIM IF HE SHOULD STAY AND IF NOT, WHAT WOULD HE HAVE TOLD HIM: “No, he didn’t ask. I’d have said what’s the information you got? What’s your grade? How important is it to you to finish school? I’d say, ‘It’s hard to win a national championship, but I think we’ve got a shot.’ Just from a selfish standpoint, I’d say, ‘Please, come back.’ But he probably didn’t want to hear that. Jason was a great, great player and gave us everything he had while he was here; I just wish we had him a little longer. With that labor agreement going on right now (and a likely salary cap in 2011), maybe it is the best thing for him.”

ON WORILDS’ ABILITY: “He’s very, very fast. He has great quickness. They’ll put some weight on him. He’s going to end up making somebody’s team and he’s going to end up making a lot of tackles. He could play outside linebacker or play down. I’d say Jason is very similar to a guy we saw in the bowl a few years ago, Louisville’s end, Elvis Dumervill. He’s got a bunch of sacks this year, and Jason’s a lot like him. I hope we get a bunch more like Jason Worilds.”

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