Tag: interviews

“I know the guys that I have to compete with, and it’s going to be a high level of competition…I’m excited to go up there and prove myself. I know there’re a lot of people who are kinda doubting me. And there’s nothing wrong with that! But I understand that I have to prove myself, and I’m excited to get a chance, and it’s all on my shoulders now.”

To give Russell his due, he held offers from over 15 Division 1 programs as a recruit, and his initial Touch the Banner post by Thunder had plenty of good things to say about him. One of those things was, “Bellomy has some serious wheels and escapability,” and Russell is quick to acknowledge the benefits of his legs. However, he also makes his primary responsibilities in the Al Borges offense known.

“Obviously it’s a pro style offense; it’s different than the spread. You know, pass the ball, check-down, check-down, check-down. Not, if you’re first read’s not there, just take off. So that’s what I’m going to be working on a lot: progression reads.”

Perfecting the new offense will certainly take time. Bellomy has been in possession of the playbook for several months now and admits that “it’s like learning another language.” Although he recognizes that intervening factors may lead to early playing time, he isn’t opposed to redshirting in order to develop as a player and learn the new offense. “I’m up for whatever,” he says.

Another thing that Russell has always been up for is capitalizing on opportunity. During football games, Bellomy did just that, earning a 4-0 record against his HS rivals, almost always “finding a way to win” against formidable in-state competition. Similarly, Russell also kept an eye out for opportunity during his recruitment process.

“Recruitment started off pretty slow because all the way up until school my junior year, I played baseball; [I’ve played] ever since I’ve been a little kid, and so that consumes your whole summer. So I didn’t get to go to all these college one-day camps because I was playing baseball…it’s at these camps where you get noticed, and so I don’t know if that had an effect on my recruiting…after my Junior football season, I decided to quit baseball, and then I made a highlight tape and sent it out to coaches, and about a week after I started getting some responses…”

“…I ended up choosing Purdue [on] June 1st. I’ll never forget that. But then the best opportunity I’ve ever had fell in my lap. In the middle of January, I got a call from my head coach, and he said ‘hey Russ, Michigan called; are you interested?’ He left me that voicemail, and I was just like ‘is that even a question?’ So I called him back, and then Coach Borges ended up coming down here to my school, and then he came for a home visit right after that, and we sat here from about 6:30 on just sitting here talking, and on the way back to the hotel, he called me and offered me, and me and my dad were going insane. So I took an official visit as soon as I could…and on the plane ride home, I switched my commitment.”

Russell “isn’t a shy guy” and I get the sense that he’ll do well with the leadership aspects of the quarterback position, such as building relationships with teammates, modeling strong practice routines and asserting himself vocally. With the ability to both run and throw, his maturation as a leader and passer will be fun to watch over the next four years.

There’s no doubt that Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner bring high expectations and much excitement to the Michigan football program. Russell Bellomy fits right in.

I didn’t get overly excited when I heard that linebacker Marell Evans was transferring back to Michigan after a one year stint at FCS school Hampton University. Granted, I knew Marell was re-entering the program as an experienced player at a position of need, but Evans was an unheralded recruit who only saw limited playing time on the ’08 and ’09 squads, which were among the worst defenses in Michigan history. So getting back a role player from those teams didn’t exactly send shivers of excitement down my spine. Then, after checking out Marell’s stats at Hampton only to discover that he barely saw the field, I completely discounted any chance of a contribution from him this year.

With my expectations of Evans similar to those of a preferred walk-on, I was initially teriffied to hear that he was running with the ones during spring ball and, by many people’s predictions, including our own Magnus/Thunder’s, likely to start at linebacker in the fall. What would that say about the other linebackers?

But things don’t look so grim after speaking with Hampton’s Director of Player Development, Coach Ray Lewis*. For starters, Marell had a very good reason for not seeing much/any playing time at the FCS school.

“That [lack of playing time] was definitely due to injury…he ended up re-injuring his foot. I think he actually first got injured up there [at Michigan] before he even came down [to Hampton], so he re-aggravated the injury…it was tough on him, as it would be for any young man.”

Although it’s never enjoyable to hear about a person’s misfortune, it’s a relief to confirm that Marell’s lack of playing time at Hampton was due to lingering injury rather than poor performance. Evans has now been on the mend for nearly an entire year, and he has earned a reputation as a hard worker. MGoBlue lists his height and weight at 6’3”, 225 lbs., and Evans certainly appears to be in good condition and physically ready to make an impact based on what we saw in the spring. Now, over four years removed from his unimpressive recruiting ratings, Evans is garnering favorable evaluations from people who know what they’re talking about.

“He can go. I mean, I’ve played in the NFL; I’ve played Division 1 ball, and when he’s healthy, he can really go…he’s full of athletic ability…I’m sure if given an opportunity and he’s healthy–and he’s a leadership type of guy–I’m sure he’ll do well.”

Maybe I was foolish for dismissing Evans so quickly. He’s no longer an unheralded underclassman playing in a disastrously managed defense; he’s a RS Senior with an excellent work ethic performing under the supervision of Greg Mattison. It’s also clear that Evans brings more to the table than just his playing ability. In fact, Coach Lewis used the word “leadership” to describe Evans no less than 4 times during our short conversation.

With only one year of eligibility remaining, Evans didn’t transfer back to Michigan for the 2011 season to ride the bench. Expect Evans to see a lot more playing time this year with Michigan than he did during his tenure at Hampton.

* Not “that” Ray Lewis, obviously.

Freshman defensive back Raymon Taylor is fast. Actually, after clocking a 10.6 in the 100 meter on a bad foot, it’s probably more accurate to say that this former track star is really fast.

Raymon brings his track speed to Ann Arbor from Highland Park, MI, which is a blue collar town completely surrounded by the city of Detroit. Although both Highland Park and Detroit have experienced their fair share of recent struggles and negative press, Raymon is proud of his city.

“It’s really a small little city, right in inner Detroit. I love it. I was there [at Highland Park High School] for four years, playing football and running track. I knew everyone, so it was really easy for me to fit in. But other people from Detroit come to my town to come play for Highland Park; they really like it, too. It really is a fun city. It’s all about hard work, playing sports and doing school.”

Part of Raymon’s exceptional experience at Highland Park can be attributed to significant involvement by his dad. Mr. Taylor coaches softball and JV football at Highland Park High, which made it easy for him to “keep an eye” on Raymon by “being out there, saying what to do to get better [at football].” Interestingly, one strategy to get better at football included getting better at track.

“Oh yeah, track helped me a lot with football…it made me faster. I feel that I was born fast, though. It just took me to the next level, got me real, real fast. It really is about the workouts. You gotta put in your work to get fast.”

Raymon is expecting to continue with his second sport by running track for the Wolverines during his sophmore year. But for right now, Taylor is focused on making an impact on the football field. His versatility and athleticism make playing time as a freshman a strong possibility and open doors for offensive contributions down the road.

“Right now, [I’ll be playing] defensive back and taking kickoff returns and punt returns. But they said if I work hard and do the right things, I can help on offense my second year…I’m trying to be like Charles Woodson…I’m going to come in and play hard, workout hard, so I should touch the field [in 2011] — I will touch the field. I know it. I’m good enough to play with anybody. I’m going to come in, take care of business, work out hard, and I’ll be on the field this year.”

On game days, Raymon will be busy preparing to see the field by doing track drills while listening to his “#1 song” through headphones. Coming from a strong family of Michigan fans, also expect Mr. Taylor to continue keeping an eye on his son’s football season. But this year, playing in front of a packed Big House crowd, Mr. Taylor won’t be the only person keeping an eye on Raymon.

Freshman defensive lineman Chris Rock–not to be confused with the comedian Chris Rock–recently moved from Columbus to Ann Arbor to join forces with the good guys. Hail to the Victors. But as awesome as that is, the fact remains that most people think of the comedian when they hear the name Chris Rock. So against my better journalistic judgment, I began the interview with Chris by asking him what it’s like to share his name with a megastar, and he was kind enough to humor me.

“Well, my parents wanted to name me Christopher, and when they named me that, Chris Rock wasn’t famous yet or anything. And when I was growing up, I didn’t like the name Christopher, so everyone called me Chris. And then Chris Rock became famous. So now not a day goes by that someone doesn’t say, ‘Oh, your name’s Chris Rock!'”

Okay, since that’s now out of the way, we can return to the real story, which includes Chris becoming a Michigan Wolverine despite being raised deep inside enemy territory. And as you might expect, the decision to come to Ann Arbor was met with some resistance.

“I hear so much every day, like ‘You’re going to Michigan! Why?’ They just love talking crap to me. One time they actually wrapped up my stuff, like all my Michigan gear, and wrote [on it], ‘Go Bucks!’ So I use that sort of stuff for motivation.”

In September, Chris will be channeling that motivation for the Wolverines as he runs out of the Big House tunnel and touches the banner. But it wasn’t too long ago that even he was on the other side of the most bitter rivalry in college football.

“Um, it’s hard to say this, but I grew up an Ohio State fan. I used to love Ohio State; I loved Ohio State right up until my freshman year, until I started to be recruited. I guess you take a different mindset when you’re thinking about which colleges to go to.”

Chris even rooted on the Scarlet and Gray during a visit to Ann Arbor in seventh grade. But now sold on the Maize and Blue, Rock joins his new Michigan teammates, one of whom is Patrick Omameh, who hails from Chris’ same Ohio powerhouse football program: St. Francis DeSales. Obviously, Omameh is an established force on the offensive line at Michigan, and it sounds like Rock is looking to make a similar impact on the defensive line.

“My mindset is I’m going to do whatever I can to play [during the 2011 season]. I know I’m not guaranteed anything, so I’m trying to work my butt off and see what happens.”

Strongside defensive end is the position for which Chris was recruited; however, many Michigan fans–including myself–look at the depth chart and believe that a player or two slotted for that position could/should move to defensive tackle. For his part, Chris is open to the idea, and he’s quickly putting on muscle mass. At 6’5” tall, Chris now weighs in at 270 lbs., an even 20 lbs. more than his previously reported weight. Don’t be surprised to see him add an extra 10 -15 lbs in the upcoming years to provide flexibility and utility along the defensive line.

Let’s hope that when Michigan fans hear the name “Chris Rock” five years from now, they think of the football player rather than the comedian. This kid from Columbus is about to make a name for himself — in Ann Arbor.

Jack Miller has been around football his entire life. His father, a former Division 2 college football player, introduced Jack to the game at a young age. This early exposure instilled in Miller a love for the sport and led him to begin playing organized football before most of his peers knew what a first down was. Growing up, Jack also watched a lot of the NFL, rooting passionately for the Cleveland Browns. Of course, this made a lot of sense since Jack lived in the exact same neighborhood as several Cleveland Brown players.

“Yeah, I remember all of their names. A lot of them were lineman, guys like Shaun O’ Hara, who now plays for the Giants, or Ryan Tucker, who’s retired, or Ross Verba, who’s retired. There were plenty more – Courtney Brown, who was the #2 pick in the draft. I could go on and on with guys that we knew.”

Wow. That sounds like a nice neighborhood — in more ways than one. But Jack doesn’t live in that neighborhood anymore. Not only did Miller move to Ann Arbor on the 25th of June, but his family relocated from Cleveland to Toledo when he was an adolescent. The distance between the two cities is only a couple of hours, but after Jack made that relatively short travel, he noticed a change among the fans and learned more about the University of Michigan.

“Like I said, I’m from Toledo, but I grew up in Cleveland my whole life, which is completely Buckeye territory. Toledo is a lot more supportive [of Michigan] than it is over in Cleveland. So I didn’t know that much about Michigan…but when I opened up to Michigan more, I realized what a special place it is. And here I am, a few days away from heading up there [to Ann Arbor].”

Jack began “opening up” to Michigan as a recruit by familiarizing himself with the university and building relationships with the coaching staff. But that coaching staff, of course, was fired only weeks before signing day. Viewing Miller as a priority, Coach Hoke didn’t waste any time reestablishing Jack’s relationship with the Michigan coaching staff.

“He [Coach Hoke] was able to come down to my house a few days after he got hired. I was able to talk with him, and I just knew he was the right guy for the job. I really believe that. He’s the kind of guy I want to play for…but as personalities go, I think Coach Hoke and his staff are a little bit more laid-back. They’re a little more easy going. Now they’re going to get after you. I think it’s just a more laid-back, calmer atmosphere.”

Recently, Jack has been busy preparing himself mentally and physically for the upcoming season. More specifically, he said that he was able to score “some film on NFL centers” through his aforementioned “NFL contacts.” It sure doesn’t sound like Jack’s life around football is about to come to an end anytime soon.

– For more on Jack, check out his conversations with TomVH and Kyle Warber.