THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Perhaps it was destiny for this partnership to form. As two players who worked their way up from small schools to Power Four football, a natural connection existed between Florida State defensive linemen Braden Fiske and Jared Verse.
Coaches first noticed signs of that friendship in spring practices last year. Arriving from Western Michigan, Fiske was unable to participate in most of Florida State's spring practices last year in wake of offseason shoulder surgery. Still, he would be there to observe and give feedback to his teammates.
A simple thing to do, but one that would set the foundation for a strong bond with Verse, who was entering his second season with the Seminoles after transferring in from Albany in 2022.
"He couldn't practice, couldn't do anything, but he was out there watching and learning and stuff like this," Florida State Associate Head Coach/Defensive Tackles Coach Odell Haggins told theRams.com. "He would say stuff to Verse when they was practicing things like that, and you'd see Verse would listen to him. That's how it started developing back then."
Over time, that connection grew into one of friendly competition.
"I wasn't going to let someone outwork me," Fiske said after being drafted. "That's something that made us gravitate towards each other. The closer we got, the harder we worked. He was somebody that was in the building with me 'til seven, eight o'clock at night watching film, breaking stuff down and it translated on the field. Just somebody who I can compete with, somebody I can work with. From Day 1, he was somebody that I knew right away, 'Alright, this is a guy I'm gonna be around because I can see the way he works and the way he gets after it.'"
That bond created a tandem force so formidable, it defined not only Florida State's success last season, but shaped the duo's NFL futures and the Rams' desire to reunite them as NFL teammates.
The chemistry on the field became apparent from the beginning of the 2023 season.
"We didn't say too much, it's just as the season wore on, teams were kind of sliding (their protections) a lot more," Verse told theRams.com. "Especially with me on that side and him on that side, they were like, 'Oh yeah, let's slide this way,' or they'd bring a chip over our way and slide towards the other d-ends like Pat (Patrick Payton) or Byron (Turner Jr.) or Fabe (Fabien Lovett Sr.) and those type of guys. But me and Fiske were kind of like, 'Alright, let's run the game, we're just gonna throw them off instead of straight rushing.' So we ran a couple games and it just kind of hit home, and we were like, 'Yo, we can just do this.'"
They scaled back the intensity of those stunts in practice to protect teammates and keep them healthy. Still, the more they practiced those stunts, the more realized how dangerous the stunts could be when executed by the two of them.
It reached its peak in the ACC Championship against Louisville – the game Rams general manager Les Snead in April said for fans to go watch if they're bored to see the tandem at their best – but according to both Verse and Fiske, signs both players were hitting their full stride playing off of each other trace back Florida State's rivalry game against Florida one week earlier.
That Nov. 25 game was the then 11-0 Seminoles' first without Jordan Travis, their star quarterback and a Heisman Trophy candidate who had suffered a season-ending leg injury the previous week against North Alabama. The leader of one of the nation's top offenses, Travis had tallied a school-record 10,676 total yards of offense in his college career and is the only player to rank in the top 10 in history in passing and rushing touchdowns.
Florida State's offense, and the team as a whole, would not be the same.
"I mean, I think there's always a pressure to go out and perform and succeed, but it starts with losing your starting quarterback," Fiske told theRams.com. "J-Trav is a Heisman front-runner, and you lose him, the team's looking for people to step up. And not that we weren't playing well to begin with, but you've got to take it, you have to find new ways, you have to find new levels of how you're going to take over a game."
With Florida facing 1st and goal at the Florida State 2-yard line with 1:36 remaining in the first quarter and the game still scoreless, both players lined up in a 4-point stance: Fiske over the outside shoulder of the right tackle, Verse over the inside shoulder of the left tackle. They burst off the line of scrimmage with pass rush moves almost mirror images of each other: a club-swipe from Fiske and a club-swim from Verse to win. Both meet at the quarterback at the same time, taking down the Gators' Max Brown for a 7-yard loss.
Although the drive resulted in a touchdown two plays later, that moment reinforced the work put in away from the field that Fiske talked about. And more of those plays would be needed out of the duo, as well as the rest of the Seminoles defense.
On 3rd and 1 from the Florida State 17, they held Brown to no gain on a QB sneak, which forced Florida to settle for a field goal and made it 10-0 Florida with 10:21 left in the second quarter.
On 2nd and 12 from the Florida 23, Fiske attacked the B gap, then Verse looped inside to deliver a crushing blow and force the incomplete pass with 11:47 left in the third quarter. Facing 3rd and 7 with Florida on the Florida State 20 with 7:18 remaining in the third quarter on that same drive, Fiske and Verse line up on same side.
Fiske attacks the left guard. The protection slid three Gators offensive linemen their way, but Fiske fought through the traffic to combine with defensive back Syheim Brown and limit the result of the play to a 1-yard run/scramble by Brown.
While the drive ended in points, Florida was held to a 37-yard field goal to make it 15-14 Florida with 6:33 to go in the third quarter.
A 19-yard field goal with 7:17 remaining in the fourth quarter and running back Trey Benson's 26-yard touchdown run put the Seminoles up 9 with 2:48 remaining. A little over a minute after Benson's score, pressure by both Verse and Fiske – after being lined up by the same side – led to the game-clinching interception for Florida State in a 24-15 victory. The undefeated season remained alive.
"I think both of them played extremely well in a game where we needed to step up defensively, and they certainly played off each other well," Florida State Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Ends Coach John Papuchis told theRams.com. "And there was a lot of moments throughout the course of the year when they lined up next to each other and had significant impact on the game, whether it was how they fit on the pass rush or how they ran a line stunt together, but you did start to feel that really come together on that back part of the year. And the Florida game was was certainly one of those examples of just them feeding off of each other. I don't think either one of those guys were going to let us walk out of there with anything except the win."
Fiske and Verse became most dangerous as a tandem when lining up on the same side of the defensive line, as the Florida game showed.
Haggins said both are smart players. He also said Florida State's players are coached hard and taught different protections, and given the freedom to call the weakness in the protections if they see it on the field. In turn, it also gives players the freedom to play off of one another.
Fiske and Verse's chemistry was that freedom at its best. In fact, that chemistry became so strong, they could achieve their desired result through non-verbal communication: Only a head-nod or a simple look at each other was required to know what stunt they wanted to run together.
"Man, that was great," Haggins said. "When you get college kids to do that and communicate and have that chemistry – I played in the NFL and have coached a long time here – that's awesome. That's awesome to see that. And to feel that, and to see that as young men, study the film and develop that chemistry, boy that's great as a coach to see that."
In Florida State's 16-6 ACC Championship win over Louisville, Fiske notched 9 total tackles (4.5 for loss) and 3 sacks, Verse 6 total tackles (3 for loss) and 2 sacks. Haggins told them it was one of the best performances he'd seen in a long time as a defensive front.
"And I've had some darn good ones here," said Haggins, who enters his 31st season on Florida State's coaching staff.
According to Papuchis, in the back end of the game, the Seminoles started running a stunt between Verse and Fiske. One was a fourth-down play, and another the last play of the game – both critical moments.
With 3:18 remaining and the Cardinals going for it on 4th and 7 from their own 27, Verse looped inside to set a pick, allowing Fiske to loop outside for a sack. Turnover on downs, Seminoles ball. On the ensuing drive, kicker Ryan Fitzgerald added insurance with a 40-yard field goal to give Florida State that 16-6 lead with 2:19 to go.
With 1:27 remaining and the Cardinals going for it on 4th and 3 from their own 32, Verse and Fiske ran the same stunt, and Fiske looped outside to take down Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer for a 13-yard loss.
Fiske celebrated raising and pointing to his left ring finger, with Verse arriving right next to him raising his pinky. Florida State head coach Mike Norvell was so excited, he leaped into Haggins' arms in celebration on the sideline.
"So Fiske ended that game for us defensively with a sack, and it was off the same line stunt that they had run earlier," Papuchis said. "So it was definitely a defining moment in that game."
One element that should not go unnoticed is the amount of extra time Verse and Fiske spent in the facility watching film and breaking things down, asking each other if they were seeing certain things the same way, how to approach certain situations, or how to approach when to line up opposite each other along the defensive line so they could get certain looks.
Papuchis said that some players will watch extra film to make sure the coaches know that they're doing it, almost in an attempt to get themselves on Florida State coaches' radars. But Verse and Fiske went about it in an authentic way that didn't feel attention-seeking.
"Jared and Braden did that without really ever letting anyone know that," Papuchis said. "And I think it was just kind of their sincere desire for them both to be successful."
One viral draft call video showed just how much it meant to the two college teammates to be reunited in the NFL.
Hustling to get to the Rams' Draft House in time after the team traded up to the 39th pick to select Fiske, Verse got out of the sprinter van and walked through the door, then jogged up the stairs to the war room, receiving the phone from head coach Sean McVay with Fiske on the other end.
"Hey Fiske!" Verse says.
"Let's go boy!" Fiske says.
"Boy ain't now way!" Verse says. "Ain't no damn way! Remember what I told you, man. Oh my God. Can't wait to play with you again. I can't believe it."
Verse tells Fiske he's proud of him, then Fiske begins sobbing.
Their tenacity on the field and work ethic off of it formed a strong, close bond, so the reaction was fitting. How they operate as a tandem in both aspects says a lot about what drove the Rams to reuniting them as NFL teammates and contribute to a defense dealing with the retirement of a franchise great.
Beyond the way he commanded slide protections and double- and triple-teams from offensive lines, another piece to Aaron Donald's legacy with the Rams was the "care factor" related to evaluating prospects. After general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay told him how the roster was going to take shape in 2023 – veteran departures, an influx of younger players – Donald told them he didn't care, just so long as those newcomers had the right mindset and work ethic.
Donald also set an example by being one of, if not the, hardest worker on the Rams during his tenure – something that was also reflected in Verse and Fiske's work ethic at Florida State.
"You want your most talented players to be your hardest workers," Papuchis said. "And for both those guys, that was the case, and that just creates a great opportunity for the young guys coming up to be able to see what it takes to become successful, not only on the college level, but then have the opportunity to both be high draft picks and play together in the NFL."
Of course, the work they've been able to do so far in restarting that chemistry has been limited due to the nature of OTAs – no live contact and no pads limit how aggressive trench play can truly be – but that will change in training camp next week and give them the chance to pick up where they left off on those stunts.
While holding his press conference at the draft house during his visit there, Verse said he and Fiske had talked not too long ago about the level their on-field chemistry had reached.
"Imagine if we got to go to the same team," Verse recalled. "That'd be so cool."
Indeed, it became full circle. Now they hope to keep that chemistry going for the foreseeable future.
"It's one thing to play next to somebody," Fiske said after being drafted. "But when it's next to somebody you're having fun with and somebody you can enjoy playing ball with, it's different. Me and him just have a different chemistry that we just built in one year. I can't imagine what we could build in three, four or five, even longer. I mean, it's really special."
