Jared Verse: 'I always felt like I belonged here'

A transfer is never easy, especially when making a jump from the FCS to Florida State. That transition came naturally to Jared Verse, though, considering how Tallahassee immediately felt like home to him.

Verse, the star of the Seminole’s defensive line, joined ‘Andy Staples On3’ and opened up about his arrival at FSU. He said he had no nerves about his leap from Albany to Florida State considering he always felt as though he belonged and that he could compete against the best of the best.

“A lot of people asked me was I nervous to get here before this and I was like, ‘Nah, I wasn’t nervous,'” said Verse. “I always felt like I belonged here, I always felt like I belonged to play against the best. Florida State has the best.”

Another reason why he fit right in with the Seminoles is because he didn’t really wait to get a feel for anything. He just put his head down and went right to work in order to improve his game and, in turn, improve the play of his new teammates.

“I was trying my hardest, I practiced hard, I worked hard,” Verse explained. “I wanted to show these guys, ‘Hey, I’m going to work. I’m going to bring y’all’s game up with me.'”

Verse’s process clearly worked based on the returns from his first season at Florida State. He posted 47 tackles and nine sacks for the Seminole’s defense in 2022. The tackles were the most on the defensive line while the sacks were the most on the team last year.

Now, in 2023, he enters the year as one of the best players in the ACC as well as in the nation.

Again, we all know that it’s not always a seamless transition when going from one place to the next. However, Verse’s was considering how swiftly he felt as though he found a place where he fit in and could elevate himself, as well as his new team, to the next level.

Verse reveals his biggest concern with so much hype surrounding him

Hype is a good word to describe what people are expecting to see out of Florida State this season. The Seminoles have been one of the offseason’s darlings after going 10-3 last fall, their best finish since 2016 and a sign of a major leap in the Mike Norvell era.

Still, individually, Jared Verse admits that the effect that the hype would have initially worried him. As he said earlier this month, he was concerned that the attention would have an adverse effect on his preparation. From there, he didn’t want that to change his potential impact on the field.

“Honestly? My biggest concern with having all this hype was I wasn’t going to be able to maintain what I’ve gotten used to. My work ethic and everything like that,” Verse said.

Thankfully for those in Tallahassee, though, Verse went on to say that he has avoided all signs of complacency. Instead, he has reset his focus on the ways in which he has found success so far in college. That will now hopefully bring him more of it in his second season with the program.

“That’s been no problem…It’s never deterred me,” said Verse. “I’ve just been focused to keep working, keep working on what got me here and what’ll get me even further. I’ve just been focused on that.”