CHAPEL HILL – Garrett Walston has big plans, and that is why he returned to North Carolina for one more year of classes and football.
A super senior tight end for the Tar Heels, Walston could have moved on and taken his chances at the NFL, and there is a decent chance he would have landed on a roster somewhere. But Walston also knew coming back to UNC meant he could enhance his prospects, so he decided to stay in Chapel Hill for another year.
There is more, though.
Walston may not have opted to come back if not for the Tar Heels’ potential next fall. The program is clearly ascending and Walston wants to experience the next step, one he thinks could be historic.
“I think the sky's the limit for this team,” Walston said. “There's a bunch of young guys that are very talented and I think, next year, this team's gonna take Carolina football to new heights that they've never seen.”
Carolina has gone 7-6 and 8-4 in Mack Brown’s two seasons, with the Heels nationally ranked for much of the 2020 campaign, which ended with the Tar Heels in the Orange Bowl, the first major bowl for the program in 71 years. UNC ended the season ranked No. 13 in the College Football Playoff poll and No. 18 in the AP poll.
And Walston believes UNC is just getting started. He is not alone, as the Heels are rated among the top 10 teams in the nation in most early polls, and quarterback Sam Howell is considered one of the leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy.
“Absolutely,” Walston replied, when asked if he thinks Howell will make a run at the most prestigious award in American sports. “I think Sam's the best quarterback in the country,” he said. “And that also played a huge part in me returning because I didn't really look anywhere else because I was like, there's not going to be a quarterback better than Sam anywhere else in the country.”
That also played into Walston’s decision. Howell is crazy accurate, so if Walston regularly gets open and is a good option, Howell will find him.
The Wilmington, NC, native turned in a solid statistical season last fall, catching 19 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. For his career, he has 29 receptions for 350 yards and three touchdowns to go with a pair of two-point conversions.
Other than Walston, the tight end room has little experience, so Brown was pleased when he learned Walston was taking advantage of a pandemic-era NCAA waiver allowing all seniors to return for one more season.
“I do feel like Garrett Walston coming back is huge for us,” Carolina’s coach said. “He knows what to do. He'll let the young tight ends grow up.”
Walston understands he must be more productive, but also needs more stuff on film. Adding to his game with more positives for NFL scouts to absorb will enhance his stock. Part of that is improving the consistency in his blocking. According to PFF, Walston graded out at a respectable 65.7 in run blocking, and in six contests, he was over 70.0 in pass blocking.
UNC held him back a lot to protect Sam Howell, but Walston’s numbers were a bit too inconsistent there, so getting more high-level play in that respect on film and being more productive in the route-running game should help his quest to landing in the NFL.
“My goal always was to get drafted and coming back was best for that,” Walston said. “We kind of have a running joke back in my house back home that I can’t let my little brother be the only one that gets drafted in the family. So, I’m working for that this year, hard.”
Blake Walston was taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 26th pick in the first round in 2019. His signing bonus was for $2.45 million, and the younger Walston is expected to play on the D-backs’ A team this season.
To satisfy his ultimate mission, Garrett is leaning heavily on perhaps the most important person to him in the UNC program.
Tight ends coach John Lilly initially recruited Walston to Georgia and got a commitment out of him. But Lilly moved on and Walston ended up in Chapel Hill. Lilly returned to Carolina in the winter of 2020 and is fully connected with Walston.
“I’ll pretty much say he's probably single handedly the reason I came back, just because I've learned so much under him in one year and we didn't even have spring ball,” Walston said. “So, I think this year with hopefully having spring ball and then having a full camp, and then just being in his office as much as I can, learning some new film and new drills to do on my own, I think that could really help out my game.
“And, like I said, I saw great strides in my game just really a half-year under him.”
Walston has another 10 months or so to go before that pro quest becomes his job. Until then, he wants to improve and win games. That’s why he came back.
