The new era of college football's bowl season has been swarmed with negative PR surrounding transfer players and draft-bound opt-out depleting rosters.

But there is another side to that dilemma. Take, for instance, new FSU linebacker Caleb LaVallee. The Marietta, Ga., native had played sparingly in two seasons at North Carolina, appearing in 14 games, but playing a combined 62 snaps across those 14 games.

When UNC's roster was depleted by departures after head coach Mack Brown was forced out of his role at the end of the 2024 season, that provided an opportunity for LaVallee. He made his first career start in the Tar Heels' Fenway Bowl loss to UConn and took advantage of the stage, racking up a team-high nine tackles and a tackle for loss on 65 snaps and finishing with a 76.0 PFF grade.

"It was a blessing. It was great to get out there with my friends and just play football," LaVallee said Thursday. "That's something that I've always loved is playing football and it was able to help me grow as a player, get some more experience and confidence as well."

A day after the Fenway Bowl, LaVallee entered the transfer portal on Dec. 29. Three days after that, he started a visit to FSU on Jan. 1 and he announced he was joining the Seminoles on Jan. 3, mere hours after wrapping up his visit.

None of that is to say that FSU had no interest in bringing in LaVallee before his bowl-game breakout. The Seminoles were his other finalist as a high-school recruit before he chose UNC. But it certainly didn't hurt LaVallee's portal chances that he entered fresh off a breakout performance, which showed what he can bring to his next school.

"I love Coach Brown and I'm very grateful for my experiences up there. At the end of the day, I just wanted a culture and I love the culture here..." LaVallee said. "The new regime up at UNC, I'm sure they're going to do great, but this place felt more like home to me and some place that I'd want to be and coaches that I want to play for."

Since arriving in January, LaVallee has wasted no time rekindling the relationships he built during his initial recruitment with Mike Norvell and John Papuchis, who is transitioning to being FSU's linebackers coach this offseason.

"My initial recruitment out of high school, I had a great relationship with all the coaches here, especially Coach Norvell. I got to know Coach JP in high school and he always seemed like a great guy," LaVallee said. "Once I hit the portal, I got to better develop and grow that relationship. I love the coaches here...

"Coach JP is awesome. He's a really nice guy, he's really football smart and I can tell he cares about the players a lot. I'm excited to get out there and just work with him."

LaVallee also had a bit of a relationship dating back to his high-school recruitment with new FSU defensive coordinator Tony White, who offered him when was the Syracuse DC. It didn't take much selling of LaVallee during his portal recruitment for him to be able to see how White's 3-3-5 base defense fits his skill-set.

"I love the defense that he runs. It's very enticing for a guy like me who's fast and physical. I just love how I'm gonna be able to get out there and just play free, run and hit..." LaVallee said. "I'm an athletic player. I can play in space, I can cover. I'm not a linebacker that has to come off the field on third downs. I can play every snap."

Like FSU's returning linebackers and Memphis transfer Elijah Herring, much of the early part of the offseason has been about learning how linebackers are used in White's defense. FSU largely ran a 4-2-5 defense the last few seasons under Adam Fuller.

The one linebacker on the FSU roster with experience in White's defense, Nebraska transfer Stefon Thompson, has been a huge resource to LaVallee and the rest of the position group.

"He's been a great asset to have..." LaValle said of Thompson. "Learning the scheme has been pretty easy and straightforward. They see me as a guy who can play on both (linebacker) sides and the part that I love about it is that it's not that much thinking. It's you get your call, get lined up, read the play and you just go play football. It's very aggressive as well so that's one thing that I'm really looking forward to doing."

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