Michigan football: Ron Bellamy addresses how freshman can work their way onto the field
Every season, Michigan finds itself with a group of freshmen that work their way into the starting lineup. The Wolverines might just have a few at wide receiver in the 2022 class. It is among the things they are trying to sort out in fall camp.
Wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy spoke to the media on Tuesday in Ann Arbor about the Michigan skill players. Fifth year Ronnie Bell, senior Cornelius Johnson, juniors AJ Henning and Roman Wilson and sophomore Andrel Anthony are among the players working to earn snaps.
However, the freshmen will be a factor.
“The freshmen — this has been a pretty good group,” Bellamy said. “There’s Darrius Clemons, Tyler Morris, Amorion Walker. Those guys have been great. They’re gonna have great careers here at the University of Michigan.”
A frequent question when bringing up the position has to do with how to keep everyone happy with so many options. The staff has not reached the point of divvying up snap counts just yet.
However, if anyone wants to see the field, they had better be able to contribute on special teams, too.
“That’s something that we haven’t talked about,” Bellamy said. “What’s rare is that as great as our receivers are, so are our tight ends, so are our running backs. We’re blessed with an abundance of talent. And it’s just one of those things where special teams — I heard Grant talking about Coach Jay and how great of a job he does, which he does — he’s the best in the nation to my eyes. But those guys know they separate themselves by playing special teams. And you’re going to see a lot of talented guys playing on special teams on Saturdays.”
Setting the Michigan mentality at wideout
Another way to earn a spot in the good graces of the Michigan staff is to contribute as a blocker in the run game. Senior Mike Sainristil has been a godsend in that area for the Wolverines but will spend a lot of time playing nickel on defense in 2022.
That will not be an excuse for everyone else to not pick it up.
It’s a mentality,” Bellamy said. “I played for Lloyd Carr, man, if you don’t block and you don’t take care of your teammates, you don’t play. And that’s the mentality in our room and everyone knows that. We’re going to carry that every Saturday. You’re gonna see that style of football and Mikey definitely sets the standard in the room. And now, you just take Mikey and you multiply by however many guys we have in our room. And that’s the attitude that we bring into our room. We’re gonna be not just pass catchers, but we’re going to be tough and physical in the run game as well. We have got to take care of our brothers.”
Bell is the elder statesman of the Michigan wide receiver room. His position coach uses him as a paragon of what the staff is looking for at the position.
“Energy, competitiveness. He’s a leader,” Bellamy said. “We call him ‘alpha’ in our room. He’s played a lot of football and obviously, having a position coach that played the same position and played at the same school — a lot of things that he does, it kind of resonates to me. I’ve seen a lot of football, a lot of great wide receivers at Michigan, and he definitely fits that mold.”
