Austin Corbett: Life After Football on the Hilltop

It’s a fall day on the Hilltop, and football season is in full swing.

On SMU’s practice field, tucked into campus near the corner of Mockingbird Lane and Bishop Blvd., the Mustang football players prepare for the team’s next opponent.

As players practice their tackling and run through individual drills, Austin Corbett stands behind them, a camera in tow.

He wishes he could put on the pads again.

“I still feel like I could suit up,” Corbett said.

When he came out of high school, Corbett was a two-star recruit who held offers from nine schools, among them Harvard and Navy. With great size, speed, strength and some good coaching, he was going to be a stud, someone who was going to contribute all four years for the Mustangs.

He never got the chance to.

Two weeks before he was to start working out with the football team, Corbett got a phone call from a coach. A physical had revealed that something was wrong in his neck. Cervical stenosis, the doctors said. A narrowing of the spinal cord in the neck area.

The prognosis was grim. If Corbett were to keep playing football, he’d be at an increased risk for paralysis—an incredible risk for any athlete to take.

Once he learned more about the condition, things started making sense. In high school, Corbett sustained a neck injury that forced him to wear a piece of protective equipment called a neck collar. He also suffered a number of injuries known as “stingers”—injuries to the nervous system that are common in contact sports. Like most players, he just shook them off. He just thought that they were part of the game.

“I didn’t see it as a major problem,” Corbett said.

He tried to get second opinions from other doctors, but they just confirmed the initial diagnosis. When he asked if he could get back on the field, if he could resume his football career, they always told him the same thing.

"It’s your choice," they’d say. "You know the risks."

SMU wouldn’t clear him, so Corbett started looking at other schools as he tried to keep his dream alive. He eventually decided it just wasn’t worth it. The injury risk was just too high.

Corbett’s college football career ended before he ever got to take the field at Ford Stadium. However, after a good freshman year on the Hilltop, Corbett accepted it as his future home for the next few years.

“I saw SMU as an opportunity for other things in life,” Corbett said. “Getting a job, building a network and here in Dallas there’s just so many opportunities.”

Then-head coach Chad Morris had honored his scholarship, and even invited him to stay around the program. He gave Corbett a job on the field, first as a student-coach, and then with the film crew.

With his senior year coming up, Corbett’s role with Sonny Dykes is still uncertain. With a big passion for coaching, he would like to be around football for the long haul.

In his three years away from the game, he’s missed it a lot, but he’s found meaning in his new role on the sidelines.

“It’s still a great experience,” Corbett said. “Not as great as playing, but it’s the closest I can get.”