Virginia Tech football: 86 days til kickoff and today we profile C.J. Carroll

Today is June 6, 2019, which means we are officially 86 days away from the Virginia Tech Hokies opening the college football season at Boston College. In yesterday’s countdown, we looked former tight end Steve Johnson, who concluded a strong career in 1987 and is now a successful businessman and donor to his alma mater.

In today’s countdown, number 86, we look at former receiver, C.J. Carroll. Carroll, a 5’8”, 173-pound former walk-on from Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney, Md., arrived in Blacksburg in 2014 and redshirted his first year on campus.

As a redshirt freshman in 2015, Carroll played in two games and a total of 15 snaps. He played eight snaps on offense and seven snaps on defense over two games against Furman and Purdue.

Carroll saw more action in 2016, appearing in all 13 games, and starting in one contest. For the season, he finished with 9 rushing attempts for 46 yards and 18 catches for 258 yards. He also showed some potential as a punt returner, fielding 11 punts for 98 yards. His best game was a three-catch, 80-yard performance for the Hokies in a win at Notre Dame. That performance came while wearing the famed ‘25’ jersey. It was the Hokies’ first-ever trip to South Bend.

At the end of his redshirt sophomore season, Carroll was awarded a scholarship which made all of his teammates quite happy.

Much was expected from Carroll in 2017, unfortunately injuries plagued him throughout that season. He played in just seven games with one start. He finished with 15 catches for 157 yards and a score. He missed a total of six games, all against ACC foes.

In his senior season of 2018, injuries again affected Carroll. He played in four games and didn’t accumulate any stats and in October elected to give up football after failing to adequately recover from a nagging foot injury.

At the time, head coach Justin Fuente released a statement about Carroll and his decision to step away from the game, per Hokie Sports:

Our team and our entire football and athletic training staff has the utmost respect for the way C.J. has worked and battled to keep playing through this injury. Unfortunately, C.J., his family and our medical team all agree that the only way he can fully healthy is to rest and rehab without competing. While I know C.J. very much wanted to finish his senior year on the field with his teammates, we will always appreciate his many contributions to our program at Virginia Tech and know that he’ll continue supporting our squad the remainder of the season.”

Carroll was a popular, blue-collar player who showed great potential on the field. Sadly, injuries shortened his career but not before he earned a scholarship and graduated from Virginia Tech.

We wish C.J. nothing but the best in his future.