The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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60 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW they had going. It was me sensing in that moment that I needed to be OK, and I would be OK." Excitement Grows With Participation Michigan's winter workouts stirred Bell's enthusiasm. The rehab accelerated even more — running, cutting, agility drills, ex- ecuting routes. He still wasn't going to be allowed contact, U-M's medical staff follow- ing a standard approach. Still, Bell found himself competing in earnest, and that buoyed his spirits and got others talking. "Throughout spring ball, I was doing all of that, and doing my rehab," Bell said. "As soon as spring ball was over, I got tossed into the fire with everybody again. I could do the training sessions with everybody, and we're doing player-led routes. I'm able to do all that. "That's where everybody was saying I'm back, because I was finally full speed. Ev- erybody was running around, and it just felt really good." "To my eye, this looks like Ronnie Bell before he injured the ACL," head coach Jim Harbaugh noted. "Just the way he's moving — I see him jump, I see him run, I see him cut. He's definitely on track and looks about the same as he did before, maybe even a little bit better." McNamara seconded that notion, after throwing to the veteran wideout in various workouts. "He's a guy that I've always had a good connection with," McNamara said. "Now that he's back, it's time to bring that connec- tion back, as well as with the other guys. We want to put out a product on game day that shows how much work we've put in." "We have Ronnie Bell coming back, which is huge," assured junior tailback Blake Corum. It's huge in a lot of ways — bolstering an already well-stocked offense, putting a team leader back on the field and delivering a satisfaction stimulus for nine months of comeback effort. Now, it's a matter of maximizing his pre- paredness, along with realizing there's no durability guarantee. Nobody in football gets a career pass. "I feel very ready," Bell said. "It's just a matter of time before camp comes around. You put the helmet and shoulder pads on again, and see the ball in the air. I feel explo- sive, I feel strong, I feel fast. "Time will tell. It's different when you're running around with routes on air, or 7 on 7. It's a lot different when you put helmets and shoulder pads on." Many assumed one difference would in- volve no special teams for the veteran. Bell says not so fast, my friend. "That is not what's going through my mind," he pushed back. "I have no intention on holding myself back from being a part of special teams. "I've always enjoyed special teams, and I feel I'm good at it. Whether that's returning punts, blocking or however I get a chance to help and affect the team, I'm going to do my best." A Peek Back, Then Full Focus Forward Bell experienced Michigan's Big Ten championship season from a unique per- spective. He couldn't make the big catches, but he made sure those who did earned an enthusiastic reception. As a co-captain, he also grasped the meaning of what his team accomplished. "It meant the world to me, and it meant a world to this program, to have a success- ful season like that," Bell stressed. "But if anything, the chip on our shoulder should be even bigger to repeat and be even more successful than we were. "Everybody talks about Hutch and every- body that was with the team last year that's not here anymore. Nobody wants that to be the excuse. The chip is, and should be, even bigger than it was. "We now have standards that we are hold- ing ourselves to, to be successful." The key to a mental edge, in Bell's mind: chips ahoy. "Definitely feeling that chip," he reiter- ated. "We attacked the season with so much weight on our shoulders. The chip on our shoulders was so big. As long as guys still Bell Sees A Chance To Bounce Back In Elite Fashion It's been done before with striking success. A standout Michigan athlete goes down with a serious, season-ending injury, then roars back to star at The Big House and beyond. Grad student wide receiver Ronnie Bell gets the chance to put his name among the greatest comeback stories in Michigan football history this fall. He went from leading the team with 48 catches and 758 yards receiving as a sophomore to 26 receptions and 401 yards in the truncated COVID season of 2020. Last year, a lone 76-yard reception in the season opener against Western Michigan preceded his season- ending knee injury. Now, the comeback is on. Here are three of the best boomerangs in Michigan history, players who put season-ending injuries behind them and came out firing thereafter. 1. Aidan Hutchinson, 2021 — Perhaps it's recent-history bias, but it would be tough to top Hutchin- son's one-year turnaround from 2020 to 2021. In the COVID year, Hutchinson lasted just three games, and not all of the third. He fractured his ankle at Indiana, forcing him out of action in that forgettable 2-4 campaign. Hutchinson roared back last season, leading the team with 14 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss and a dozen quarterback hurries. He proved so dominant, he drew an invitation to go to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Moreover, he made good on a vow to help bring Michigan back, delivering a cathartic win over Ohio State, a Big Ten championship and U-M's first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. He also became the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, making the comeback complete. 2. Jim Harbaugh, 1985 — Harbaugh infamously hit the turf with a broken leg in a loss to Michigan State in 1984. The season-ending injury led to Michigan's worst campaign under Bo Schembechler, 6-6, and Harbaugh's plaintive plea to the U-M head coach: "Don't forget about me." Schembechler didn't, and a year later, his quarterback gave everyone a reason to remember. The Wolverines of 1985 surged into the fall ready to make up for the lost year 1984 became. They ram- paged through the season at 10-1-1, only a crushing 12-10 loss at Iowa and a 3-3 tie at Illinois keeping Michigan from a perfect record. The Wolverines wound up beating Ohio State 27-17 and taking down No. 7 Nebraska 27-23 in the Fiesta Bowl to finish No. 2 in the nation. Harbaugh stood at the heart of it all, passing for 1,976 yards and 18 touchdowns, with only six interceptions. The current U-M head coach wound up playing 15 years in the NFL for Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, San Diego and Carolina. 3. Derrick Alexander, 1992 — Alexander's injury was eerily similar to Bell's, involving the same ligament in the team's season-opening game. At Boston College in 1991, Alexander went down on a kickoff return with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, missing the remainder of the season. He'd just been awarded the No. 1 jersey after a sophomore campaign featuring 31 catches for 450 yards and 6 touchdowns. Alexander didn't stay down, though. In 1992, he posted his best year as a Wolverine, pulling in 50 catches for 740 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also returned to special teams duties, running back a pair of punts for TDs. Alexander became a first-team All-Big Ten receiver and a third-team All-American, and he went on to play nine years in the NFL for Cleveland, Baltimore, Kansas City and Minnesota. — John Borton