ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan safeties coach Ron Bellamy met with the media on Wednesday to break down the loss to Michigan State, discuss his position group and looking ahead to Indiana.
For everything Bellamy had to say, check out the full transcription below.
On how the program has responded after the loss to Michigan State
Onward. It’s just ready for Indiana. We’ve got a great challenge in front of us. You can’t dwell on the past. We made our corrections. We had a great practice yesterday. Our focus is on Indiana.
On whether the defense is preparing for multiple quarterbacks on Saturday
How many do you think we should prepare for? I don’t know, but you see it on film. Gotta prepare for everything. We don’t know. Obviously, what we think could possibly happen, but we’re not gonna leave anything uncovered, so we’re preparing for everything.
On the defense generating more turnovers
Always want more, want more than whatever you get. For us, if you could average forcing three turnovers a game, that’s a quite significant number. But, anytime we have an opportunity to make a play on the ball, whether that’s in the pass game or the run game with punch-outs, that’s something we work on diligently every day. Our focus is forcing turnovers and getting the ball back to the offense. Just every opportunity you have, you’re always gonna want more.
On what he remembers from the 2001 loss against Michigan State
After we fixed the locker room when Larry Foote destroyed it, we came back. One thing Coach Carr told us, kind of a similar approach to what Coach Harbaugh has, it’s a fighter’s mentality. You get punched, you don’t lay down on the canvas. You get up, you keep swinging. And that was our philosophy 20 years ago, that’s our philosophy this week.
On how long it took that team to get over the loss
It’s the 24-hour rule. Win or lose, you’ve gotta move on, correct your mistakes, whether you’re winning or losing the game, anything you’re competing in. Reshift your focus on what’s next and that’s Indiana for us.
On his thoughts on the safeties taking improper angles
Absolutely. It’s something we’re working on all the time. Trying to improve things that we see show up on film on Saturdays. That’s something that we’re working on.
On whether the angle issues are resulting from players being overly aggressive
It could be multiple things. It could be maybe a player didn’t see it as quick or it could just be that the ball got on them a little bit faster than they anticipated it getting on them. Like I said, it’s one of those things, in the back half, you’ve gotta get it down. That’s one of those things that we constantly work on.
On how much the program pays attention to College Football Playoff rankings
I’m gonna be honest with you, I don’t even know what they look like. I really don’t pay attention to it, I don’t think many of us do. We’re just so locked in and engaged with our opponent this week. We can only control what we can control. We don’t even worry about rankings on Sundays. Usually, you hear about it, whether the kids talk about it or something you might see on social media, scrolling through something. No one’s really talked about it.
On Andrel Anthony
It’s pretty unique, obviously, having a chance to start off with Andrel when I was with the receivers briefly. Just watching his development from that point in January all the way until now. He’s a kid that has a great career ahead of himself. Credit Coach Gattis for getting Andrel to this point where he’s at now. You can see flashes, Andrel showing up, showed up big on Saturday and you hope it’s something he can continue to build on.
On whether he's following local high school playoffs
A lot. For me, there’s kids that we are recruiting that are in the playoffs. For me, obviously, I have a vested interest in a school that I came from and opponents that I played against. Probably me more than anyone else, I’m very familiar with it. It’s the life I lived for the last decade. So I see it differently than most people do. But I am following.
On Indiana
They play hard. Coach Allen’s a phenomenal coach. Those guys, they’ve lost six games. If you look at the opponents they’ve played, they’ve lost to, outside of the Ohio State game, Cincinnati, the Michigan State game, last week against Maryland. Week 1 against Iowa was a tough one for them. They’ve played some formidable opponents and they’ve held their own. They’re dealing with a rash of injuries, but this is a very competitive, good football team. Fundamentally sound, tough as nails. They definitely take on the personality of their coach.
On his communication with in-state recruits after the Michigan State loss
For me, me personally, the kids in the state of Michigan that reached out to me, they’ve all been encouraging, like, ‘Go get ’em next week, you guys have a chance to accomplish all your goals.’ It’s almost like they were rooting for us.
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