The Tar Heels didn’t have many positives in their bowl game on Saturday, but one of the few guys who did shine has entered the transfer portal this morning.
Per a report from Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, redshirt freshman linebacker Caleb LaVallee, who started yesterday's Fenway Bowl, has entered his name into the portal. He will have three years of eligibility remaining wherever he ends up.
LaVallee closed out his time with the Tar Heels with a career performance on Saturday against the Connecticut Huskies. He finished with a team-high nine total tackles and graded out as the second-highest rated defensive player according to Pro Football Focus. His 65 snaps played were the most of the season after he spent most of the year as the team’s primary backup to both Power Echols and Amare Campbell. He played in 12 of the team’s 13 games, playing 114 snaps on the defensive side of the ball and 151 on special teams. He finishes the season with 14 total tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss and one quarterback pressure.
His departure makes sense with the Tar Heels having brought in one of the top linebackers in the portal in Khmori House, who the team presumably was looking at to start alongside Amare Campbell. The team is still in good shape depthwise with Michael Short, who showed some nice flashes this season as the guy who will now take over that primary rotational role heading into the summer. Ashton Woods departure hurts a little bit more now, but the team will still have fellow true freshmen Crews Law and Evan Bennett in the room, as well as promising walk-on Cade Law.
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