Tag: Caleb LaVallee

UNC’s leading tackler from Fenway Bowl commits to Florida State

UNC will be down one linebacker in 2025…

The Fenway Bowl was another upsetting ending to UNC’s 2024 football season, as North Carolina played primarily with players who didn’t see the field much in 2024, during a 27-14 loss to UConn.

One Tar Heel who saw the field sparingly during regular-season action was freshman linebacker Caleb LaVallee, who actually was one of the rare defensive standouts in the Fenway Bowl.

LaVallee led UNC with nine tackles, recording seven solo stops and one tackle for loss, being one of the few who benefitted from opt-outs and NFL Draft declarations.

Looking ahead at North Carolina’s depth chart, LaVallee would be a likely starting 2025 linebacker.

Unfortunately, the Fenway Bowl is the last we’ll see of LaVallee in a Tar Heels uniform, as the freshman linebacker recently committed to ACC rival Florida State.

The Seminoles (2-10), who suffered through their worst season since 1974, need all the talent and help they can get. UNC beat FSU, 35-11, on November 2 in a game which Omarion Hampton scored five touchdowns.

Not having LaVallee next year will definitely be a loss for North Carolina, but it isn’t roster-altering, as Bill Belichick continues to land commitments in his first offseason as head coach. The Tar Heels’ greatest defensive get, through early January, is former Washington linebacker Khmori House.

Like LaVallee, House is a freshman who played more as the season came to a close. LaVallee totaled 14 tackles (eight solo, six assisted) across five 2024 games, while House collected 33 tackles (19 solo, 14 assisted), forced a fumble, intercepted one pass and deflected four more across nine contests.

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Does the UNC football team have a future star linebacker in Caleb LaVallee?

UNC linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen is really high on the future potential of redshirt freshman linebacker Caleb LaVallee.

Despite having one of the country’s worst defensive units over the past several seasons, the UNC football team produces solid talent at the linebacker position.

Last year, that production came from Cedric Gray, a first-team All-ACC member who led the Tar Heels in tackles and was a fourth-round, 2024 NFL Draft selection by the Tennessee Titans.

Three years earlier, quarterback-turned-linebacker Chazz Surratt led North Carolina’s linebacking unit. Surratt is now a member of the New York Jets, who also seem to produce strong linebackers despite their overall struggles.

Entering UNC’s 2024 campaign, Kaimon Rucker and Power Echols are expected to lead the linebacking corps. Rucker is more of an edge rusher/outside linebacker hybrid, while Echols is more of a traditional backer.

There’s another Tar Heel linebacker who, while not expected to contribute big numbers this coming season, is showing his coaches a lot of future potential.

The linebacker we’re talking about here is Caleb LaVallee, the redshirt freshman who appeared in four games last year.

“He’s getting there,” UNC linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen told InsideCarolina’s Jeremiah Holloway. “He’s starting to remind me of the Gemmels and the Powers and the Ceds. He now looks like a Carolina linebacker, the ones that we’ve had in the past.”

LaVallee is studying everything he can from his more experienced teammates, particularly Echols, whom he is nicknamed “Little Power” after.

“I love Power,” LaVallee said. “He’s been so good to me. (Taking) me under his wing, teaching me, pushing me. So I hope I can be the player that he is one day.”

If LaVallee is progressing like his coaches say, don’t be surprised to see him take the field this fall.

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Report: Florida offers this Peach State linebacker

The Gators have their eyes on this versatile linebacker recruit from Georgia.

The Florida Gators have been steadily building up their relationship with three-star Mableton, Georgia, linebacker [autotag]Caleb LaVallee [/autotag]over the last month or so and now the Whitefield Academy recruit has an offer from the university under his belt, according to a report from 247Sports.

Florida is far from the first to tender a scholarship to LaVallee as his offer count reaches 27 with this bid. The Gators are the second program in the Southeastern Conference to offer him though, and it’s hard for most recruits to turn down an opportunity to play in the best conference in college football. Vanderbilt was the first SEC team to go after LaVallee, but Florida quickly caught his attention.

“Florida has a great blend of two things that are the most important to me: football and academics,” LaVallee said. “They’re a great, great academic institution and they also play the best football that you can play and it’s in the SEC.”

LaVallee plans to take an unofficial visit to Gainesville in the near future, although no date has been set just yet. After that, he’ll decide which schools deserve official visits over the summer and who will be in his top five. Florida has a good chance to be one of those five.

“I feel like Florida really has a good chance of jumping into the top list because of the caliber of all the things I talked about,” he said. “The visit that I’ll have when I go down there will be big for making my decision about where they stand.”

Until then, Florida inside linebackers coach [autotag]Jay Bateman[/autotag] will continue to develop his relationship with LaVallee. The Gators like his versatility in the middle of the defense and see him playing various roles on the defense. That fits LaVallee’s self-proclaimed “daredevil” mentality on the field and should be a good fit if he does end up committing.

The 247Sports composite ranks LaVallee as the No. 576 overall recruit in the class of 2023 and the No. 48 linebacker.

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