HARRISONBURG — It was Mike Houston’s introduction to college coaching.

He was a 23-year-old high school football assistant when he got the chance to visit Carl Torbush at the University of North Carolina.

At the time, Torbush was one of the most respected defensive minds in the country as the coordinator for Tar Heels coach Mack Brown. He commanded a unit that led the Atlantic Coast Conference in total defense and scoring defense in 1996 and 1997.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” the second-year James Madison coach said with a grin about his first meeting with Torbush.

At that point in his coaching career, Houston said he leaned on what he knew from his playing days since he recently wrapped up his playing career at Mars Hill.

And what Houston knew was offense.

He played tight end in college, so he was familiar with the running game and blocking schemes, but admittedly wasn’t a defensive genius as he prepared for his first defensive coordinator job at the prep level in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Torbush, now the coach at East Tennessee State, had let Houston watch a few of UNC’s spring practices over a three-day visit.

The two coaches and their teams will be on the same field again Saturday when the Buccaneers and the top-ranked Dukes battle in JMU’s home opener at Bridgeforth Stadium.

“My first year as a high school coach, I went down for spring practice,” Houston said. “And he treated me like I was somebody. I was nobody.

“I was a little 23-year-old assistant. I sat in his meetings. I was with him during practice and he spent multiple days with me. From there, our relationship grew.”

Torbush said he’s anxious to see Houston this week. The feelings for Houston are mutual.

Houston’s wife, Amanda, is an ETSU graduate and friends with Torbush’s wife, Janet.

“I wish it was a pleasure trip, but it’s not,” Torbush said. “I’ve known Mike the whole time.

“I’ve always had great respect for him because of the type of man he is and the classiness he’s shown as a football coach.”

As Torbush was elevated to head coach at UNC after Brown left for Texas, and then was a coordinator again at Alabama and Texas A&M, Torbush said he watched Houston’s career path.

Houston was rising in the profession — jumping from assistant to head coach at T.C. Roberson High School to defensive coordinator at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne under Fred Goldsmith.

“He’s what I call a guy who came up a dirt road,” Torbush said. “He’s earned and deserved everything that he’s got.”

When Torbush went back to coach at his alma mater, Carson-Newman College, he had games in 2007 and 2008 against Houston’s Lenoir-Rhyne defense.

“And when he first took the job at ETSU, I was still at The Citadel, so we had the relationship there,” Houston said. “It’s a relationship that’s been a long-term deal.”

Houston calls Torbush a mentor.

Torbush said he isn’t surprised with the success Houston’s had, how quickly his pupil’s career has taken off or that Houston led JMU to a national title in his first year at the school.

“I knew he was a really good high school coach,” Torbush said. “But I think the thing that impressed me most was with what I saw at Lenoir-Rhyne because I know what they took over when they went to Lenoir-Rhyne, and I know how Mike left that program after winning three straight conference championships.

“From there, his success and opportunities have come when they’ve needed to come. He’s done things right.”

Torbush, who has worked in seven different FBS programs in his long and established career, said he thinks it’s only a matter of time before Houston gets a crack at a top-level position.

“He’s still young, and he’s got a great job, so sometimes you don’t need to move,” Torbush said. “But with the success that he’s had, and that he’ll probably continue to have in his career, if he wants an opportunity to move to an FBS level at some point, I think he’ll have that.”