CHAPEL HILL – Ray Vohasek didn’t have a pile of mail from colleges in his bedroom when he was in high school.
His phone wasn’t blowing up and he didn’t get text after text after text from adoring coaches competing for his services.
Voasek was a terrific player at McHenry East (IL) High School, but didn’t have many options to play football at a high level, so he went to the College of DuPage in DuPage County, IL. A large community college north of Chicago, its football team, known as the Chaparrals, plays in 5,000-seat Bjarne Ullsvik Stadium. It has stands on just one side of the field.
He suffered a torn labrum as a senior in high school, and ended up having surgery the following July. He played with it injured throughout his first season at DuPage, yet Vohasek still posted impressive numbers, catching the eye of some FBS schools.
He took a medical redshirt in his second year at DuPage, yet UNC liked him so much, the previous staff offered. Deke Adams, a defensive line coach under Larry Fedora, went to see Vohasel and extended the offer.
“He came out of the blue,” Vohasek said Tuesday, in his last interview as a Tar Heel. “He saw my film (from College of DuPage), came down.”
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Vohasek visited for the NC State game, and as he was about to commit to Carolina, Fedora was fired the next day. Mack Brown was hired a couple of days later, and the new staff showed an interest in Vohasek.
“So, it was like, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do,’” Vohasek recalled. “I didn’t know Coach Brown was going to be the next coach or anything. That was my plan initially, and they kept recruiting me.”
He committed, and had become one of Carolina’s top defensive linemen, if not its best interior defender until a torn labrum in the Virginia Tech game ended his season, and as a result, ended his UNC career.
There is much more to Vohasek’s story, and it’s one UNC fans are wise to learn more about. So, instead of choosing just a handful of comments to satisfy a feature story on him, why not allow you to read and watch/listen to his words. So, that’s what we’re doing here.
Below is video from Vohasek’s interview Tuesday evening at the Kenan Football Center. Also, below is most of what he said transcribed, but with some context added. It’s not a long read, but well worth it.
This is a different approach, but we hope you’ll enjoy it:
*Vohasek is three weeks out of surgery, and has one more week in the sling. “It’s starting to get a little irritating.”
*He tore his left labrum. He previous did it on his right side in high school as well, “So, I’m used to it.”
*He hopes to be ready to participate in Pro Day in late March. Recovery time is five-six months.
*When he found out he was done for the season: “I was devastated. Look at what the team’s done. We’re going to the ACC championship, we’re 9-2, it’s been a great year. So, I had a little part in this, but I don’t think I did a whole bunch this year.”
*The injury occurred versus VT. Was throwing a Hokie down and felt a pop in his shoulder. “And I knew right there it was something was wrong.”
*Vohasek wasn’t recruited much at all in HS and missed a year in JC because of an injury. His perseverance has been one of his strengths.
“You have to just trust yourself and trust the process and just work hard. That’s really the main thing. You just have to believe in yourself.”
*Did he tell people when he went to JC he was going to play major college football – he didn’t exactly have the specs for it in HS
“I never vocalized it or anything, but deep down, I had dreams to play Power 5. That was always the goal, but I wasn’t sure I was going to reach those goals.”
*Not many guys take the path he did. If someone doesn’t know anything about him but wanted to know what his football story is, how would he begin the answer? Everyone else there was highly recruited, offered by the time they were sophomores.
“I wasn’t on a great powerhouse football team. A lot of the guys I play with they didn’t lose any games in high school, or they were competing for state championships. I wasn’t in a situation like that. So, I love football, that’s really what I’d start with. I love this game. Injuries are a part of it, but I really do enjoy football.”
*As Senior Day approaches:
“It’s been a great experience. We’ve won every year since. I’ve had great teammates. I’ve had guys that play in the NFL, guys that haven’t. But it’s been great teammates, friends that I’ll have for the rest of my life, and it’s been a great time here.”
*Growing up in Illinois, could he have imaged where he is now at North Carolina of all places?
“I never would have thought it, and I never would have thought I would have gone to a Power 5 school that would have this much success. I figured if I did, with how my recruiting process was going, I would have been at a school that was below .500, a school that was struggling. I came to a place that’s getting 5-stars consistently, great players, playing with guys that re competing for the Heisman. I never would have thought that back in those days.”
*Vohasek was ready to go into the workforce after graduating from high school in McHenry, IL, which is about an hour north of Chicago.
“After high school, I was going to go work. My brothers helped me out getting me into college. I signed up, showed up, and things worked out the way they did.”
*Former UNC DL coach Deke Adams was the first Carolina coach to reach out to Ray.
“He came out of the blue. He saw my film (from College of DuPage), came down.”
*He was recruited by Larry Fedora. Was actually at the State-UNC game that ended in the fight. Then Mack continued the interest.
“That was my first Carolina game. I came with Coach Fedora coaching staff, then Coach Brown came in, they saw my film and then pursued me to recruit me after.”
*That said, Vohasek said he probably would have ended up at UNC anyway.
“I had Kansas, Oregon State, some small Power 5 schools. I was going to come here, that was the plan the whole time. But then I came here and the next day Coach Fedora got fired.
“So, it was like, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do. I didn’t know Coach Brown was going to be the next coach or anything. That was my plan initially, and they kept recruiting me.”
*So, considering his path, next thing he knows, he’s playing for a Hall of Famer.
“Exactly, a guy that’s won a national championship. And then I played for Coach Chiz, another national champion. Yeah, it’s a wild, wild deal that happened for me.”
*Now, the term “storybook” is overused, but it was fair to ask Vohasek if there is a storybook element to his football experience and how things have played out for him at Carolina.
“I would say so. It’s been a wild, wild ride. It’s been a grind for sure. I don’t know if I’d call it a storybook, it was my path and it was a good path. I enjoyed it. I really did.”
*Even though Vohasek won’t play Friday, what will his emotions be going through that tunnel for the last time?
“It will be a lot of emotions and things like that; senior night. I just want to beat State. After last year, that was one of my main goals in coming back was to win this game. It’s a game that I wish I was playing in. That’s the main goal this week.”
*Vohasek is on the sidelines for home games, but injured players don’t travel to road games, so they watch them on TV. Unlike most people, Vohasek doesn’t watch the ball, he watches the area where he’s done his work for years.
“I just watch the o-line and d-line. I don’t watch the skill positions or anything. Even when we’re on offense, I just watch the o-line. Same when I watch the NFL, I just watch the o-line and d-line. That’s all I care about.”
*Vohasek’s first visit to UNC was the NC State game in 2018. It ended in ugly fashion, which Vohasek clearly remembers.
“It was a physical game. I’ll never forget, and this is probably one of my best memories; Javonte (Williams), it was like his first game ever starting, and I was like, ‘Who is 25?’ I thought he was a senior because he was out there running over people taking four people to bring him down, and I was like, ‘Who is this?’
“And I remember Mitch Mason telling me, ‘Yeah, he’s a freshman…’ Then seeing Javonte’s career really take off, that was the one thing that I took from that game.”
