Michigan receivers coach Ron Bellamy played for the Wolverines from 1999-2002. During his playing days in Ann Arbor, he tallied 888 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.
When Bellamy was hired before the 2021 season from West Bloomfield — where he was the head coach and had led the Lakers to a state title — the Wolverines asked Bellamy to take over as the safeties coach. The former Michigan receiver helped lead the group to a top-30 pass defense.
Now entering his second season with the maize and blue, Bellamy is back with the receivers. The second-year coach admits he is more comfortable with the receivers, but he told the media on Wednesday that he can view things a little different after coaching the secondary for a full season.
“It’s been awesome,” said Bellamy. “I can speak for myself going from defense to offense is — obviously, I’m most comfortable at receivers, it’s the position that I played for a long time, and being on the defensive side of the ball, yes, you know coverages and different things to that. But learning what the fronts are doing, learning with the linebackers and doing, the edge mechanics, and now being on offense and seeing it and giving input in meetings and, like, ‘Hey, they’re doing this because of this,’ or think the way I see it, it’s definitely opened my eyes, in the game. Some of the things that I had an idea that I thought I knew, that I was great at understanding, but I really have a better understanding of things. And I think from a coaching standpoint, having some success last year, coach moved Jay over there to the defensive side of the ball, and it’s been great for him. He’s just kind of going through the same transition that I went through last year. But it’s been great. Our coaching staff, we have a strong brotherhood, a great camaraderie with one another.”
Bellamy has an embarrassment of riches at his position group. The Wolverines return every receiver, save for Daylen Baldwin, from last season. Michigan also returns Ronnie Bell, who was injured in the first game of 2021, and the maize and blue have three highly touted freshmen for 2022.
Bellamy knows all about playing alongside talented receivers. During his tenure at Michigan, he had the pleasure of playing with Braylon Edwards, Jason Avant, Steve Breaston, David Terrell and Marquise Walker. That’s quite a list.
When Bellamy was asked about Andrel Anthony, Bellamy told the media that Anthony wants to model his game on former Michigan legend Braylon Edwards. He says Anthony not only wants to be a physical threat, but he wants to know the ins and outs of the game. Last year, during the Michigan State game, we saw some Edwards type of flashes when Anthony caught 155 yards and two scores.
“Yeah, well, I’ve known about Andrel in high school,” said Bellamy. “I’ve been following him since he was in high school to where he is today, and one of the biggest things with Andrel, he’s understanding the game of football.”
“He challenges himself to do everything right, from not only just being a vertical threat or a guy that just flashes athleticism,” Bellamy continued. “He wants to know the ins and outs of the game. Andrel wants to know, how can he be a more dominant blocker. He looked in my room — I have my six pictures, and it’s Steve Breaston, Jason Avant, it’s Marquise Walker, David Terrell and Braylon Edward. And those were the core guys I played with at Michigan and — just a history lesson for the boys, anytime they come in the office, we talk about the legacy of Michigan football and the great tradition of wide receiver play. Andrel, one of the guys that he wants to emulate his Braylon, the things that Braylon’s done on the field and if you look at it they’re very similar — body structure and — I can obviously share stories because I played with Braylon for two years and just how brilliant he attacked the game and Andrel wants to add that to his game”
After telling the media that Andrel Anthony wants to emulate Edwards, Bellamy was asked if anyone reminded him of Steve Breaston. Bellamy said there are a few players, but Ronnie Bell really reminds him of the old speedster. Bellamy says both Bell and Breaston are hard to tackle, and they both are savvy.
“There’s a few guys — Ronnie has a little Steve Breaston in him,” said Bellamy. “Very slippery, deceiving. I tease him, Steve had that awkward running, but he always runs away from you, and he’s hard to tackle and Ronnie’s the same way. Steve’s probably a little taller than Ronnie but very, very, very savvy football players that are deceptive with their speed and elusiveness.”
Lastly, Bellamy was asked if anyone reminded him of Jason Avant. Avant is now part of the Michigan broadcast team for football games, but he had a successful college and pro football career with the Wolverines and the Philadelphia Eagles. Bellamy told the media freshman Darrius Clemons reminds him of a young Avant. Bellamy says Clemons is strong like an ox, he’s explosive and loves contact — just like Avant did.
“Oh, that’s a great question. Darrius Clemons right now, the young buck,” said Bellamy. “Now he’s not as polished as Jason, but he will be. He will be. But he’s the guy that — ‘Coach, watch this!’ He’s that guy that — he’s a bigger guy, 210 and now he’s strong as an ox, is explosive and he loves contact. Jason was like that. Jason and I played together here and as Jason was learning how to be a receiver before he was catching passes and running routes, Jason was the guy that would dig the safeties out, go block linebackers, kind of do the dirty work, per se. And Darrius is that guy that say, ‘Coach put me in, I don’t care if it’s to block, put me in.’ No, he’s that guy right now that kind of carries that torch and it’s pretty cool for a young guy to kind of carry that torch and the guys know about Jason, as well. He spoke to the team and they’ve seen videos of Jason, so D.C. is that guy right now.”
Michigan fans know what they have with Bell, he did lead the team in receiving yards for two seasons, but if Anthony and Clemons turn out to be like Edwards and Avant — watch out college football secondaries around the world.
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