Heel Tough Blog: True Freshman DL Not Participating in Team Activities After Car Crash
One thing that has been a staple of the availability reports this season has been true freshman defensive tackle Vodney Cleveland being listed as out and on Wednesday night we found out why.
As first reported by Brian Murphy of WRAL and confirmed by Inside Carolina, Cleveland is not participating in team activities following a single-vehicle incident in Chatham County.
The incident took place on September 17th according to state troopers and involved Cleveland’s 2026 BMW hitting a tree, coming to rest and eventually catching on fire. According to witnesses of the incident, Cleveland passed over the double yellow line and the skid marks on the group backed that up according to the police report. Cleveland went around a turn at 75 mph when he lost control of the vehicle on State Road 1731 in Pittsboro. The police report did not specify any injuries in the incident.
According to WRAL, Cleveland was cited for exceeding the speed limit, unsafe passing and failure to maintain lane control following the incident. This was Cleveland’s third time being cited for speeding since his arrival to Chapel Hill according to the WRAL. Back in February, he was cited for going 96 mph on I-40 in Greensboro and just days before the crash, on September 14th, he was cited going 66 mph in a 45 mph zone.
Cleveland, who originally was committed to Texas, was one of the biggest pieces of this past year’s 40-man recruiting class. Cleveland, the No. 299 overall prospect and No. 30 defensive lineman in the 2026 class according to the 247Sports Composite Player Rankings, went to Parker High School in Birmingham, AL and closed out his high school by finishing with 35 total tackles in 12 games. In 15 games as a junior, he finished with 50 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. The year prior, as a sophomore, he collected 19 total tackles and a tackle for loss.
The hope is that this will be a learning experience for Cleveland and that he can reset things and get back to competing on the field sometime soon.
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