Reid Carrico Caps Career With Gritty Performance in Season Finale

West Virginia University linebacker Reid Carrico concluded his collegiate career Saturday afternoon in the season finale against Texas Tech.

The redshirt senior left everything he had on the field, tallying a season-high 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack. And despite the 49-0 loss to the Red Raiders, he took his time and soaked in the moment before walking off Mountaineer Field.

“Regardless of how the game goes win or lose, I’ve always been trained to jog off the field – never walk off the field, but I kind of broke that rule today,” Carrico said. “I took a pretty good time getting off the field today just looking around.”

The Ironton, Ohio, native transferred from Ohio State to WVU in 2024. He appeared in 12 games, starting two, and recorded 54 tackles, including 1.5 tackles under Neal Brown and his staff.

“Looking back on it, my time here in Morgantown, at West Virginia, this is exactly where I was supposed to be, and I love it here,” Carrico said. “I will be a Mountaineer till the day I die. I mean, just thankful God brought me here.”

Carrico returned to play his final season under Rich Rodriguez and remained following a spring with defensive coordinator Zach Alley.

“I love them, Carrico stated. “This hasn’t been easy, but one of my goals going into college football was to be looked at as a leader and to have that responsibility put on me. It was something I had to learn to do. When I was a younger player, I didn’t really have all that great of leadership qualities, but them putting me in that situation made me better.”

He finished his final season the season with 70 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks, finishing his Mountaineer career with 124 tackles 9.5 tackles for loss and six sacks.

In his final press conference as a member of the WVU football program, he gave his sales pitch to future Mountaineer recruits.

“Everybody has recovery and a good strength staff and all that… but when I got here, life was a little slower paced here, but that allowed me to focus more on football and become a better football player,” Carrico said. “It’s the best decision I ever made. When I got here, I just felt like I kept getting better the entire time.

“If you come here to West Virginia and you’re all in on it and you treat everything like it’s the final play of the game, then you’ll do just fine. The fans are awesome too. That’s one of the main things I’ll miss the most is the fans.”

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SIEmpty heading