Everything Michigan football WR coach Ron Bellamy said before Week 4
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football has looked to get more production from its pass game in 2023 and so far, so good. Though Week 3 presented some challenges, the duo of Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson both produced highlight-reel touchdowns, even if their yardage wasn’t as eye-opening as it was in the first two weeks.
On Wednesday, Wolverines wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy shared the progress of his entire unit, how the aforementioned duo have performed, who the up-and-comers are, and much more. With conference play beginning on Saturday with Rutgers coming to town, the maize and blue will need more players to step up, and we now have a better idea of how the rest of the room is doing.
Here is everything he had to say.
Getting Jim Harbaugh back for Week 4
Oh, exciting, exciting, man. It’s always great to have coach around and Saturday, seeing him on the sideline, this is gonna be awesome for us. We are coach, we’re a product of him, the way he exemplifies himself everything he does, and thee past three games, we tried to emulate everything that he’s putting this program in and finally, to get him on the sideline on Saturday, it’s gonna be awesome.
Michigan not having any WR on preseason watch lists
Whenever you get an opportunity to make a play, just to make sure you get the right spot at the right time to make a play. Quarterbacks trusting that the receiver is going to go to do that. And Roman and Cornelius have done a pretty good job thus far. We’ll keep climbing, keep growing. We want to make sure that we are super dependable, accountable receivers.
On Tyler Morris and his big third down plays
Tyler, he’s a kid that studies at it. He’s a kid that you trust in those situations, not just third downs, but normal downs first, and second down. Tyler was one of those guys that I just mentioned, being at the right place at the right time. And, we get opportunity to make a play, go make it. And that’s Tyler, he has such a great feel for the game. He understands how to get open and understands what the defense is trying to do. And, he knows how to work to chains for sure.
Recruits' reaction to Saturday night
It was electric. It was awesome, right? I know, even for myself — to answer your question, just seeing those lights and haveing played here and just kind of see the transformation to the stadium. There’s times when the lights went out and came back on and I was trying to read like, to go over script with receivers like, ‘Man, it’s dark!’ But that was that was awesome. That was awesome man — The Big House is — they’ve done a fantastic job with that. And I think everyone, whoever was at that game, I would think they would echo the same sentiments.
Has he ever had any circus catches like Cornelius Johnson's?
No, no, but I used to always just play around with little cousins and stuff where you throw the ball over them and jump forward, you tip it to yourself two or three times. But that was an incredible play by Cornelius. I was proud of him seeing him make a big-time play like that.
Wide receiver blocking on run plays
Roman Wilson remaining healthy
Obviously, you see the production. Having Roman out there gives us a different look on our offense, a guy that can intermediary game or obviously can stretch the defense. You guys know he’s an explosive receiver. He’s shown that throughout his career, just I’m proud of just keep stacking days up for Roman.
And the great thing about Roman and the rest of the guys, not just the receiver position, but just our team in general, when you practice like that, it shows up on Saturdays. For Roman, that’s been it, he’s been having great weeks of practice and he’s stacking up days, so gotta keep it rolling.
Does he counsel Donovan Edwards after a tough game?
He has the best running backs coach in the nation. Now there’s no need for me to encourage him in that — he has Mike Hart. Mike does a great job with Dono.
Donovan, he knows every opportunity he gets he’s gonna make the most of it and just keep working, just keep climbing. I’m sure as conference play starts now, he’ll get more on his plate but Donovan, he wants to win. That’s his ultimate goal is to win every week and everything else will take care of itself.
Does he prefer grass or field turf?
Grass wasn’t very good when I played! That’s why we switched. But yeah, that’s the argument, right? Which is safer? I don’t know. I’ve seen injuries on both.
When I played here, in Oosterbaan, we had the old astroturf pillars, right? We had we practice on that day, we had to grass and then we transitioned over to the field turf. So I played on all three. I’ve seen the injuries on all three, I don’t know the science behind it. So I’m not gonna speculate on anything. But you know, it’s sad to see the injuries that are occurring.
Personal preference?
Yeah, grass. I’m a southern guy. I’m a southern guy I like grass, man, it was one of those things where, for receivers though, our footing’s a little bit better on grass. And getting tackled is a little bit more forgiving on grass than it is on turf. So my preference would be grass, but it is what it is.
On Rutgers' defense
Man, Coach Schiano, man — I mentioned it with Coach Harbaugh, like how we exemplify a lot of things that he believes in and things that he did, we want to emulate that. And those guys were the same thing with Coach Schiano. Those guys are tough, disciplined, well-coached. And those guys play hard. This is a good Rutgers football team.
Difference between nonconference and Big Ten play
Oh, yeah, you just look at the teams they played, they’ve played, what, two Power Five schools and pretty much dominated. Those guys are not to be taken lightly. They have our ultimate attention, our focus. And we know that it’s gonna be a battle Saturday. And everything we do we want to be, make sure that we’re detailed in everything we do, just so that we can put ourselves in the best position to be successful.
Freshman receivers playing early
They’re doing well, they’re doing well. You can’t treat them like freshmen. I tell them all the time, whoever we play, you’re not going to look across and say, ‘Oh, this is an 18-year-old freshman here, take it easy on him,’ like no — they are going to be attacking them like they would any other player. So there has to be the mindset. We don’t treat them like freshmen. Those guys are diligent about their craft. That’s the thing I like about them. And that’s why they’re getting opportunities. Those guys are constantly wanting to learn and making sure that they’re dialed in and detailed in everything that we do.
Favorite NFL receivers
I’m biased. I’m from Louisiana. So you’re going to have the Justin Jeffersons and you’re going to have the Odells, Jamarr Chase. I love those guys. They’re from my home state. And who else would I put in that mix? So I like (Amon-ra) St. Brown. St. Brown is, he’s a guy that he just — not because I heard the question you guys asked to Jesse about do you watch film? Yeah, I do. I watch some NFL stuff. And conceptually, football is a big copycat league, right? Just from the collegiate to the professional level. A lot of people emulate a lot of things people do. And for me, I like to watch the receivers especially some of the top guys and really — you make cut-ups and show your guys like, ‘Hey, you know, hey, we could try this release. So you could try this top of the route stem,’ and different things of that nature. And that’s — the more tools you have in your toolboxes as a receiver, the more open you can get and our guys seem to like it.
Those are the guys he's done cut-ups of?
Sometimes. I’ve asked the guys, they tend to like to use guys whose games very similar to. Roman may say, ‘Hey, can I see some Tyreek Hill? He’s maybe some of the more explosive guys in the league, I kind of want to see what their releases look like,’ top of the route, different things of that nature. I think those guys, not to say they want to say this is my game but I want to take parts of their games. They’re some top guys in the league, right? And they want to add it to their arsenal.
Using analytics
Yeah. So from that standpoint, we’re always looking at, really, the coverages dictate what you want to do, right? Now, it’s just kind of saying what a team likes to do on this down in distance in this situation — if it’s heavy pressure team, really want to kind of attack what the defense is doing, because those guys really don’t change who they are. They make adjustments to what the offense is doing, they don’t change who they are, because you want to play fast, right? The more confident your kids are in the scheme, the faster they play, the more success they have. So from an analytical standpoint, we are looking at that, like, ‘OK, this team plays this coverage, they’re playing this leverage, like, OK,’ now you want to attack those things.
What he tells receivers when the QB is throwing INTs
Yeah, just the ball’s in the air, you have to have an aggressive mindset, it’s your football. I’ve always believed that if a quarterback throws you to football, he’s showing confidence in you to go get it. And our guys know that, that’s the mindset, a ball in the air is ours. And, that’s how receivers could be there.
And I mentioned earlier, being in the right place at the right time. If the depth is 15 yards, 16 yards, you make sure you’re at that depth. If the timing of your route is at this specific time, just make sure you’re there. And then when opportunity presents itself go make the play. And that’s how receivers help quarterbacks.
Were there spacing issues on the first INT?
Yeah, just like I mentioned, be at the right place, right time. You want to make sure you’re super detailed. You got coaches, it’s not just coach talk, right? You hear the word detailed a lot. When plays are designed, it’s to hold guys certain places to allow someone else to get open. And, if 10, 11 guys — why I love football, because it’s the most team-oriented sport. Basketball, a guy could take over, score 60. Not to say it’s not a team sport, but baseball, a pitcher during the shutout or someone hits a couple of home runs, you kind of dominate that way. But if one piece of the link doesn’t work on offense, it could shut the whole thing down. And that’s why if you have 11 guys, disciplined and detailed, you’re gonna have success on that play.
LaDarius Henderson's addition to the team
Yeah, it’s his presence alone, man, the way his energy, the way LD, when he walks around a building, just like, ‘Man, this guy, he’s about it,’ you know? So once he gets his opportunity, he’s gonna make the most of it.
But he’s the guy always smiling, always super highly competitive guy. He’s definitely one of those guys that I know, the younger guys look at and some of the older guys because he’s played a ton of football. And those guys look at him as a leader on this team, as a guy that when he comes in, and he’s gonna do his job, and he’s gonna do it well. So LD, he’s been a great addition to our team.
Does J.J. McCarthy remind him of Drew Brees?
Yeah, yeah, they do. They do. Just the athletic traits, just the God-given abilities. Just the way the guys have a demeanor about themselves by keeping everybody calm. I’ve played with quarterbacks that just, you just kind of feel like that stress. Those guys have a way about just relaxing everyone, just letting everyone know, even if a receiver drops the ball. And I played with Drew and I’ve seen J.J. doing — ‘Hey, I’m coming back to you, man, just be ready. Make sure you stay locked in.’ And those are the qualities of a quarterback that takes the whole team to another level because guys — if a quarterback doesn’t have their best game, the receivers, O-line, they’re doing the same thing to those guys because they’re giving that energy off to us.
