CHAPEL HILL – Beau Corrales had a laundry list of reasons to return to North Carolina for one more season of catching passes from Sam Howell and winning football games.
A 6-foot-3, 205-pound wide receiver from Georgetown, TX, Corrales started this past season as one of the Tar Heels’ three primary receivers. He was coming off his best campaign at UNC: 40 receptions for 575 yards and six touchdowns, most of them carrying significant degrees of difficulty.
So, this past fall was to be Corrales’ swan song as a Tar Heel and a big year. With clear NFL aspirations, he was going to raise his game to another level. But it didn’t happen. A sports hernia that festered over the summer exacerbated once the games started. He took a regular beating and his season ended afte rjust four games.
His last two receptions came in the second half of a surprising loss at Florida State. Corrales caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Sam Howell cutting FSU’s lead to 31-21 in the third quarter.
And on UNC’s final possession and trailing by three points, Howell and Corrales hooked up for 32 yards quickly getting the ball to midfield with 1:49 left. Following a drop a minute later, Corrales’ season was over.
“It was a battle. It was a challenge,” Corrales explained. “I kind of really messed it up, or I kind of noticed that it was messed up, probably right before camp had started. It was starting to get sore and then, once camp really got started and stuff, I was talking with the trainers, with the coaches and stuff and just letting them know how I was feeling.
“There was kind of signs that it was turning into a sports hernia and stuff. And, with the position that we were in at the moment, there's not a lot of guys that get the surgery done and then can come back in the middle of the season.”
So, Corrales tried to play through it but couldn’t any longer. He was shelved and eventually had the surgery. He caught 13 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown in just four games, so even had the NCAA not given every scholarship athlete a waiver not counting this season’s eligibility against them, the door would have still been open for Corrales to return for the 2021 season.
He played as a true freshman in 2017, getting a few reps in a win at Old Dominion in September but not really landing in the rotation until late October when the Heels fell at home to Miami. He caught four passes and had two touchdowns that day. Corrales played in just eight games in 2018, missing three because of a suspension for his part in Shoe Gate, and his junior season was the only full one he’s experienced at Carolina.
So, Corrales’ decision was easy. And it wasn’t just for personal gain.
“There's too many reasons,” Corrales said. “Personally, for me, I just felt like there's too many reasons for me to stay. There's so many reasons, whether it be the amount of playing time I had this past season, I think I only got like four games in. Between the guys we’ve got coming back, we’ve got a Heisman candidate at quarterback, we’ve got a whole offensive line returning.
“There's so many different factors that I can pull from, but I just feel like where we're at as a team and where we're headed, it’s something that I really want to be a part of. And so, just getting the opportunity to be able to come back and enjoy that with my teammates and have one more year with them is something that I wasn't gonna let just pass up. So, I'm grateful for it.”
The Tar Heels likely will be heavy favorites to win the ACC Coastal Division and possibly contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff. That’s quite a difference from winning five games total in Corrales’ first two seasons.
He wants to be a part of that. It’s fun, playing for legendary coach Mack Brown is an amazing experience he and the other holdovers in Chapel Hill essentially fell into. And Corrales doesn’t want to leave just yet.
That’s why one of his offseason goals is somewhat striking. Get better, of course, be better for his teammates, absolutely.
He wants to improve how he gets out of his breaks. When tired, it sometimes drops to four and even five steps. But as a “big died,” as he describes himself, Corrales wants to narrow it to two and three steps. If he achieves that, his NFL dream has a better chance at becoming a reality. And then there’s the teammate stuff.
Corrales wants to be a better blocker.
“I feel like I did a decent job while I was in there this past year for the reps that I did get,” he said. “But one of the things that I think shows what kind of teammate you are and what kind of player you are is how you’re acting and how you’re moving when the ball is not in your hands.”
Corrales will rack up more numbers to add to his 80 receptions for 1,176 yards and 12 touchdowns he’s already accumulated as a Tar Heel, but he wants more. Not just stats, but a broader experience and to broaden his game.
Both will be intertwined, thus fulfilling a mission set out this past fall.
