Camp Report 6: McMichael, Anderson, Simmons & Corrales

North Carolina held its sixth football practice of the preseason Wednesday morning, as the Tar Heels prepare for a 2020 campaign that is still on.

The ACC announced Tuesday it will push toward a season while monitoring the effects of COVID-19 and attaining more information, some of which is coming from fall camps around the conference.

For UNC, it’s business as usual. Mack Brown and his staff have been up front with the players but have also kept the energy and focus high, because as of now, the Heels will play Syracuse on Sept. 12 and they need to get ready.

Following Wednesday’s practice, Tar Heel players Kyler McMichael, Brian Anderson, Emery Simmons and Beau Corrales were made available to the media via zoom. Here are their full video interviews along with some notes and quotes about what they had to say:

Kyler McMichael was the No. 53 overall prospect in the nation for the class of 2018 and spent his first year of college at Clemson. He wasn’t as comfortable there as he’d hoped for so he looked for a new school and football program and found one at UNC.

McMichael had to sit out as a transfer last year, but he still made the most of the season.

“I though that year off was good to me so I could get acclimated to the defense here,” he said, following Wednesday morning’s sixth practice of the preseason. “That whole year, I was on the scout team, but at the same time I was also in the meeting room with the DBs. So just being able to understand the defense and getting a chance to watch – I was still supportive. Of course, I wish I was out there still able to play, but I felt like it was a good year for me.”

*McMichael said he’s trying to master both the field and boundary corner spots while facing tremendous competition at cornerback. He's enjoying that end of things while just trying tog et better.

“I have boundary down, still learning field,” he said. “But, I’ll be comfortable with both pretty soon.”

*Dre’ Bly said this past summer that McMichael has some Herschel Walker in him, referring to the legendary former Georgia and NFL running back who was known for running through and over people. Does playing physically apply to McMichael’s style?

“Definitely,” he responded. “Now in college, you see 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 receivers, so I feel like it’s definitely necessary to have a bigger corner out there guarding them. So, if I’m able to be physical with that type of receiver, I can definitely shut down that side of the field.”

A battle at center is one of the brewing stories of camp so far over the last week, as incumbent starter Brian Anderson is working to hold off redshirt freshman Ty Murray. Anderson took over the spot when Nick Polino suffered an injury versus Miami in the second game of the season, and played just about every snap there for the rest of the season.

Murray, though, didn't play much but made tremendous progress through the year and is getting a chance to earn game reps. In fact, UNC Coach Mack Brown said Tuesday the staff wants the backup to play a third of the snaps at center, so this battle could go on all season with both seeing playing time. As it stands right now, what’s Anderson’s view on things?

“Center position is something I’m trying to hold down, and obviously the coaches want to get as many reps with as many guys as we can,” Anderson said. “I think we’re in a very fortunate position this year having an experienced o-line that played entirely together last year. Me and the other guys, the guards and the tackles, really kind of know each other’s tendencies now and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so we can kind of play off of that.

“Having Ty, that makes two, and (true freshman Jonathan) Adorno, the young center, he’s coming along good. I’m proud of the way he’s stepping up. I think it’s been really good, especially the last couple of practices now that we’ve been in pads. Ty missed big spring ball last year and that’s huge for him having a spring ball and he didn’t get that opportunity.

“Getting him more live reps now, too, is something that’s really going to help him if he needs to step up in a game and be ready to fill that role. I’m confident in our whole o-line.”

As a true freshman last season, Emery Simmons played in 11 games catching four passes for 72 yards and a touchdown. He’s much more seasoned now, he says, and is ready for a bigger role. The thing is, the Tar Heels return all eight players who caught more passes than Simmons a year ago, five of which are wide receivers, the same position Simmons plays.

Simmons, however, knows he will have a role this fall, and he’s using fall camp to nail that down.

“I feel like this year, my role is to be next man up,” Simmons said. “Knowing that we have so many veterans like Beau Corrales, Dyami Brown, Dazz Newsome, Toe Groves, Antoine Green, my role is to be the next guy up, to be able to go in and make the same plays that they do.

“Coach Brown is really looking for depth in all positions, so I’m looking for me to be a key part of that and just succeed and do better than what I did last year.”

Simmons admits the adjustment from high school to college was a challenge, but now that he looks back on it, the value of that experience is quite obvious.

“It was freshman growing pains,” Simmons said. “I realized that high school football is completely different from college football, but it was a great experience for me to come in early, get the flow of things. I understood what was going on at the time and I just had to play that role.

“I knew coming in to my sophomore season that I needed to step it up a notch and make improvements. And I feel like over the time of camp (the last week) that we’ve had and leading up until this last practice, I feel like I’ve made those improvements, but I still feel like there are certain things I still have to work on.”

Corrales is from Texas and has a lot of friends playing college football scattered around the county. Some play at Big Ten schools. So, with Tuesday’s announcement to cancel the season by the Big Ten, how have Corrales’ friends reacted and what are his thoughts on all of this since the ACC is pushing toward a season?

“I’ve got a couple of friends that I know personally over in the Big Ten, I know they’re pretty upset. If I was in their position, I’d be, too. Just going off of that, the opportunity to still have a chance to play – nothing’s guaranteed right now – but just to be able to saying we’re moving forward and working toward a chance to play, I’m just grateful for it.

“It means that much more to us, because there’s kids that aren’t getting that same opportunity. So, we’re grateful for it and just trying to attack every day with some positivity.”

*Corrales has one in-person class this semester, but his professor is aware of Corrales being a Type 1 diabetic, so he’s helping out by not mandating the senior attend class.

“He said I don’t even need to go to the in-person class,” Corrales said. “He said he would do recorded lectures for me on Wednesdays, so everything is situated, everybody has been really helpful with me, helping me make sure I can stay on top of everything.

“Everything is set for me academically. We’re just trying to stay positive and looking toward the season.”