While quarterback Sam Howell receives a majority of the preseason headlines for UNC heading into the upcoming college football season, his talented group of wide receivers feel they’ve been putting in the work needed to help the Tar Heels reach their lofty expectations in 2020.

The trio of Dyami Brown, Dazz Newsome and Beau Corrales are all back after posting incredible numbers in 2019, helping Howell break the all-time FBS record for touchdown passes by a true freshman.

Brown led the team with 12 touchdown catches, while he and Newsome each eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards—marking the first time in program history that two Tar Heels have done so in the same year. At 6-foot-4, Corrales—who caught six touchdowns in 2019–provides Howell with a solid option on jump balls and in the red zone.

All three players spoke with the media together via Zoom this past week, with Corrales saying he feels they’re the best receiving corps in the country.

“I’ve thought we’ve had the best receiving corps since I got here,” Corrales said. “Just being around these guys, the way we’ve always worked around each other and knowing the stuff that we’ve gone through just to get to this moment where people are actually starting to talk about us, it feels good and gives you some confidence.”

For UNC wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway, it’s the veteran leaders’ work ethic that he admires most — a trait he noticed before the 2019 season when he arrived to take over the position.

The production on the field has been a direct result of that work, but Galloway said having a pair of receivers reach 1,000 yards has also been a huge hit on the recruiting trail as well.

A lot of the coaching Galloway has done for Brown and Newsome this offseason, however, has focused on avoiding complacency and attempting to pass those numbers in 2020.

“That’s all in the past, now we’ve got to re-write it,” said Galloway. “They’re both hungry and willing to compete, and they all want that opportunity to go to the next level. But it’s what they do from now on, not what they did in the past.”

The sheer amount of offensive firepower returning — which also includes Howell and tailbacks Javonte Williams and Michael Carter — has the Tar Heels as a trendy pick to spend the season inside the top 25 and competing for an ACC Coastal Division title.

It’s impressive considering the program’s position in the seasons before head coach Mack Brown returned for his second tenure at UNC. Both Newsome and Corrales won just five games combined over their first two years in college, a fact that helps Corrales put all of this preseason hype into the proper perspective.

“We’re at the point now where we are starting to get some love and starting to get some hype, but it’s the same kind of situation,” Corrales said. “Whether it’s good noise or bad noise, you gotta block it out. Nothing’s gonna happen unless we put the work in and make it actually happen.

“We’re trying to stay humbled and make sure that the people expecting to see something big, actually get to see something big,” he added.

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