Michigan wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy knows a thing or two about the receiver position and how to be successful in Ann Arbor. He's lived it, he's seen his teammates do it and he's gone on to have success himself.
So when it came down to being back on the offensive side of the ball, the former receiver was right at home coaching the position he knows best.
Fortunately for Bellamy, he is walking into a situation where the position group is as deep as it has been in years for the Wolverines.
From veterans to up-and-comers and talented freshmen, Bellamy has plenty to work with this season.
Appearing on the Inside Michigan Football show this week, Bellamy was asked to break down his room.
Here is his breakdown of his entire room:
On Ronnie Bell
I love Ronnie Bell. He's the ultimate competitor, he's a warrior. He's a guy that, for me, coming over from to receivers, it's a blessing having him in our room. You love everything about it. The guys in the room love him. Obviously, the team loves him, they voted him captain, he's a two-time captain here. The thing about Ronnie is that you love is that he's selfless. He does anything and everything for the team. Team above everything else. He wants to win and he wants to contribute in any way possible. You love guys like that.
On A.J. Henning
Explosive. He's a guy—now what a lot of people don't know, everyone is used to seeing A.J. Henning on end-arounds, sweeps, quick pass game, a ball-in-hand guy, punt return. What people—when you're watching the game, he gets after it in the run game. Blocking for his teammates. He's physical. He's a physical guy. He loves football. That's what makes A.J. a dynamic football player in my eyes. He can attack you in all facets of the game. The run game, whether he has the ball in his hand, him blocking or him catching passes.
On Cornelius Johnson
Veteran leadership. Another guy that's in his fourth year of the program, fourth year in the system. He knows the system pretty well and he's another guy you can move around. He can hurt you in a plethora of ways. He's a guy that can come across the middle, run some digs and he'll blow the top off a route, he'll hit you on a post. Deep ball, vertical game, slants, he can do it all. He's another one that mixes it up in the run game. He's a bigger guy, 6'2 receiver. He'll mix it up and get physical, too. He's a complete receiver.
On Roman Wilson
He's twitchy. He's one of the twitchiest guys I've ever been around. Roman can run an assortment of routes and do different things. I think a lot of people think of him as just give him space and he's—he can do it in tight spaces, tight windows. He play outside, he can play slot. He can do a lot of great things for us. I know I keep bringing up the blocking part but we're so passionate about taking care of our brothers that he's another one that will go in there and dig out a safety or go seal an edge. He doesn't care. They're selfless and they just want to win.
On Andrel Anthony
He can be whatever he wants to be, he could be a superstar. Andrel has all the physical traits. He has size, speed, athleticism. He's smart. He's passionate about football, loves football. The way he attacks it every day. It's one of those things where you keep working him, keep working him and then, boom. Much like last year for Andrel, that shining moment comes. Andrel, there's no doubt in my mind that 'drel is ready for it. He shows up every day.
On Darrius Clemons, Amorion Walker, Tyler Morris and Peyton O'Leary
They understand each player has a role. When you're a young guy in such a deep, talented room like this and they understand. The mentality of those guys is that they prepare like they're starters. There's time where you want to keep guys fresh and the young guys come in there, whether it a run play or a pass play, it doesn't matter. We have the ultimate confidence in those guys considering they've all caught a pass in a game. All four of them. We have the ultimate confidence in those guys and they have great leaders in front of them in each position. You look at Ronnie and how Amorion kind of looks at him at like, OK, that's my big brother. I'm going to emulate a lot of things. Tyler is doing a lot of that with Roman and A.J., Darrius is doing that with Cornelius and Ronnie, himself and Andrel. These young guys have great examples in front of them that they can learn from. I told them experience is the best teacher for us. You include having veteran leadership in front of you and those guys are growing every week. You love where they're at.
