Ronnie Bell On Michigan's QB Battle, The Chip On His Shoulder

"Speed in space."

Michigan Wolverines football fans have heard the expression seemingly a million times since the hiring of offensive coordinator Josh Gattis last offseason. The Wolverines are striving to take their offense to the next level in 2020 after a year of ups and downs under Gattis in 2019.

"Speed in space is playmakers making plays, that's what it means to me," junior wide receiver Ronnie Bell said to former U-M great Jon Jansen on his In The Trenches podcast. "That's what I picture when I hear the phrase speed in space."

Bell, who led the Maize and Blue in receptions and receiving yards last season by reeling in 48 catches for 758 yards, will need to get the ball to utilize his speed and get into open space, and the same goes for the rest of U-M's talented receiving corps.

A new signal-caller — likely either redshirt junior Dylan McCaffrey or redshirt sophomore Joe Milton, with redshirt freshman Cade McNamara having an outside shot — is tasked with spreading the rock around to all of those playmakers. And although neither of the top options at quarterback have played a significant amount of snaps in college, Bell has seen strong indicators that whoever wins the job will be able to succeed in leading the U-M offense.

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"Working with those guys, I just see the details," Bell said. "The number of details that they all have in their own art, with what they do at quarterback. They all three have a different kind of way [of doing things]. Not that they're similar but they're all great in their own separate ways. I think that's what makes the decision about who is going to be the quarterback the craziest thing. All three are different kind of players, but all three are amazing players and have crafted their art at such a high level.

"I think it's going to be a tough decision. It's amazing working with those guys. As a receiver, you're lucky. You can't go wrong with whoever is in the game. No matter what's going on, no matter what the situation is, we got three quarterbacks that are all so elite."

He's excited about the wide receiver position, too, a group that returns senior Nico Collins, who decided to wait on the NFL and take advantage of his final season of collegiate eligibility after racking up 37 catches for 729 yards in 2019 with a team-leading seven touchdowns and a 19.7 yards per catch average (second in the Big Ten).

"I feel beyond excited for everybody in that room. I feel like everybody in the room has a chip on their shoulder and just wants to prove themselves," Bell said. "I feel like guys that are hungry like that, first of all, makes it fun to be around. It is a blast to be around all those guys.

"They all train [hard]. It's so exciting. Last year, a lot of guys got their feet in the water and Nico coming back — I'm head over heels excited for what the season is going to bring."

He's not concerned, either, that a new starter behind center would mean chemistry is off, pointing out how much they've worked outside of game days with every quarterback on the roster.

"Us receivers have worked with these quarterbacks so much," Bell said. "Our top plays, the quarterbacks are all on the same page with us. As a receiver, when you line up, it doesn't really matter who is back there, you're going to run your route and you're going to get open. It's not necessarily a pacier route or different footwork to your route because of who is at quarterback."

A two-star recruit in the class of 2018, Bell was an overlooked prospect out of Kansas City, and was actually committed to play basketball at Missouri State before his opportunity with the Wolverines came about. He had to prove himself as a Division I college football player, and he's carried a chip on his shoulder from that point forward.

"The fact that I wasn’t recruited and was told by coaches that I wasn’t a football player, I feel like I developed such a chip ... that’s how I’ve been ever since, as long as I can remember," Bell said. "I’m always gonna be that way because of that scenario. I feel like that’s where that chip and that always going hard came from.

"It’s hard to not have a chip and not want so bad whenever you feel like you’re not wanted. I feel like that’s what happened to me my senior year and it fired me up for a whole other thing, a whole other level — proving people wrong and just going hard."

Bell said his goals for this season are to do more proving.

"Goal-wise, being the best player I can be," Bell said. "For me, you can never take the foot off the gas in my eyes. No matter what's going on, winning games, losing games, no matter what we got going on, never take your foot off the pedal and keep going.

"Keep proving yourself. Keep going. Don't take your foot off the pedal for nothing."

Bell was quarterback Shea Patterson's favorite target in 2019, producing in a big way. But there's still a lot to glean on from his breakout campaign, and Bell is ready to show even more improvement in 2020.

He wants to come up with the tough catch, something he did often, but not all the time last season, with his drop (one of eight on the season) at the end of the Penn State loss being one noteworthy example.

"Probably one of the biggest things when I look back at the season this past year, contested catches," Bell said. "I want to make every catch. I want that to be first and foremost something that I do as a receiver.

"And then another thing would be diving into more film and being able to dissect a defense pre-snap. Even more at a higher level than before. Little things like that. The big thing would be the film and dissecting a defense because I feel like I could always grow in that area."

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