Initially started as a swimmer at age five, not many would have expected Caleb Woodson to terrorize QBs and become one of the best linebackers in the country. But by the time Woodson’s senior year at his high school came, he had already taken the school to a 2021 VHSL Region 6B championship. And later in the senior year, he accumulated 15 tackles, 5 sacks, and 20 TFLs, sealing his name in the recruiting world. But now, at Virginia Tech, his career has taken an unexpected detour.

“Everything about swimming is your technique [and] the fine details within that. I think that transfers over to every sport, but football specifically,” said Woodson how swimming helped him become a better football player. Woodson is one of the few players who is touted to be “extremely” important for Brent Pry in 2025 and has been shortlisted for the Butkus Award watchlist. But what would happen if he misses a few or all games in 2025 due to his arrest?

Who Is Caleb Woodson?

After putting in a series of exceptional performances at Battlefield High School. Haymarket, Virginia, the 6’3″ and 218 lbs linebacker was recruited by Virginia Tech in 2023. Moreover, since the Hokies were Caleb’s first offer, the decision was fairly easy: “Virginia Tech was my first offer under [the] recruiting process. I would say that had a big thing to do with [my decision].” But now, 2 years since his arrival at Virginia Tech, he has been arrested on a DUI charge.

“#Hokies LB and team captain Caleb Woodson was charged with a DWI on Saturday, according to online court records. It’s listed as a Class 1 misdemeanor offense. He has a Sept. 9 court date,” reported Andy Bitter of Tech Sideline on X. Notably, Woodson was soaring high in his career until now before his arrest.

For instance, in just his freshman season, Woodson played all 13 games and accumulated 22 tackles and a QB hurry. Caleb’s best game that year was against Boston College, where he notched six tackles and paved his way for a starting spot at the position in his sophomore year. As for his 2024 performances, Woodson started 11 of the 13 games and was the go-to guy for the head coach, Brent Pry. However, this isn’t the first time that the player has been involved in a driving-related incident.

Why was the Virginia Tech captain arrested one week before the season?

Last year, in 2024, Woodson had his breakout year and recorded 72 tackles for the team, which ranked second for the Virginia Tech squad. Not just that, his 2 sack performance against Vanderbilt and No. 8 Miami showed the quality that Caleb promised. So, in light of that, Woodson was given the No. 25 jersey against Rutgers after he put in a seven-tackle performance against Rutgers. Now, coming in the 2025 season, Woodson’s performances are going to be crucial.

The player also had a “reckless driving” incident back on July 30th. “Woodson also was charged with reckless driving (96/70) on July 30 in Warren General District Court, according to online court records. It is listed as a misdemeanor. His court date is Sept. 16. #Hokies,” reported Damien Sordelett on X. The timeline also signals that maybe the program knew about the violations before naming Woodson the ‘team captain’.

Virginia Tech announced its team captains on August 19th, which included Kyrone Drones, Benji Gosnell, John Love, Kelvin Gilliam, and Caleb Woodson. This clearly signals that the driving violations were probably known by Brent Pry and the concerned people, but they chose Woodson, the captain, anyway. Is it a classic case of sweeping things under the rug? Who knows? But it remains to be seen how things play out for Woodson now after a second driving violation, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor.