Bellamy signs 2 year extension - $255k raise as passing game coordinator
Title says it all. Would be great to get one more WR in transfer portal come spring to firm up the offense.
*$225k raise, mods please edit.
Damn, that's like $25K per pass attempt!
Nice. Any update on Mike Hart.
Harbaugh left him in the submarine. He forgot to let him out when he departed.
I got a text this morning from someone close to the situation. Mike is gone unfortunately. I'm not going to start a new thread on this, but my source is very reliable.
If true, that's a sad turn of events. Hope his family/personal situation is better. Hart is Michigan through and through, so it must have been a tough call.
Per my source, no indication that its personal related, rather professional related.
Thoughts on Denard as rb coach? I don’t see how it would be that much different for him considering how he played at qb with his vision, cutting ability and ball control.
He also played RB in the NFL for 4 years...
When I asked for any details on the situation, all I got is that Mike was not happy that he got passed over for the OC, and that Sherrone is putting a lot more emphasis on ace recruiters.
Meaning, if Denard can be an ace recruiter, then he might have an opportunity to move up the chain.
I'm all for stuffing the coaching staff with ace recruiters. Just so long as they can still coach up our guys.
Isn't Hart known as a good recruiter? That doesn't make sense.
Not really. Now if Ben Hall and Cabanna blow up, then maybe.
#19!
Would be great to get a QB.
Yeah, QB is front and center to my biggest worry for next year. I would like to see the offense open up more, but QB looks like a limiting factor unless someone takes a huge leap.
Meh. Tuttle gives you a solid enough floor. No reason he can’t come in and give you a Cade-esque performance back there while we lean on the defense and the running game. Protect the ball, take what the defense gives you, manage the game.
180ish yards per game and 1-2 TDs per game while limiting turnovers and we’ll be fine. Nothing special, but it can be enough. Cade gave us 184 per game and threw 15 TDs in 14 games for example.
I’m more concerned about receiver and CB2 than I am QB.
I'm hoping for a slightly more mobile Ruddock, sans learning curve. I think Sam said that Orji is in the lead, but a nice competition could be healthy and Tuttle could have the consistency to win us all over.
Orji will be involved with the offense no matter what. He's too good a runner not to be. In what capacity, and the volume he gets, are the only questions.
Orji will at least be involved in some zone read packages, and I have to believe they're going to get Jadyn out there to get his four games worth of experience to preserve the redshirt and get him ready for 2025. Beyond that, the QB position next year is a complete mystery.
The upside with Tuttle is that he gives you a floor. He is what he is, you know what he is, and you know that you can win with that type of QB. Whereas Orji is very much boom or bust.
If someone beats out Tuttle, that’s a good sign. But there are worse things than having a solid game manager with mobility.
As for Sam saying who is in the lead, I don’t really know what that’s based on. Spring practice doesn’t start until March 18th so unless Orji passed Tuttle during bowl prep, that seems premature. Seems like Sam is probably just throwing a guess out there based on the hype surrounding Orji but I don’t think this is a situation where the backup QB is passed over before spring ball even starts. Orji was given a handful of plays in the playoff because of his skill set, but I don’t necessarily think that’s indicative of the state of the depth chart.
It'll be interesting to see how the offense looks going forward under Moore. Does he open it up more now that Harbaugh is gone? Or does he keep it run heavy? Bellamy in particular has been tough to evaluate. He seemed like a slam dunk hire, but the WR room has arguably underachieved (having trouble getting open, even when teams are stacking the box, has been a frequent criticism, among others), though whether that's due to coaching, the players, or the scheme is anyone's guess.
I think some of the complaints about the WR room getting open were unfounded or due to playing some great defenses. The scheme and play style didn't lend itself to big numbers but a lot of the receivers were good blockers and did fine against all but the best corners and safeties. They're effective at the jobs they're asked to do. I suspect Moore will throw a bit more than. Harbaugh but he's an offensive lineman at heart and this team is built to bulldoze teams that are light up front. It will likely matter who is QB this season as well.
I kinda agree, I think... The WRs got open when the play calling made sense. They had some trouble on 3rd and longs, and otherwise obvious passing downs - like anyone should expect. More often than not, though, it just felt like McCarthy looked up his options and said 'nope' when the first couple weren't there. Like Seth finally concluded late in the year - some of the routes that were screamingly wide open (ie: pretty much every time DE left the backfield) were probably just decoys. I mean, it's not hard to imagine that Jim MF'ing Harbaugh used a Plain Jane basic-ass pass game most of the time.
When that differed, though... When JH allowed it to open up a little, it was all there. Witness Alabama. Saban is still wondering what hit him...
I think we'll see more of the Bama game plan going forward with Campbell as the OC. Plenty of run-centered running, but a better equipped passing game against most opponents.
$600k a year is good work if you can get it.
Excited to see how this staff looks and performs next year. I know some people worried about a continuity hire being the lazy one but I really like how Moore has filled out his coaches and feel like this is the type of young/hungry guys you sort of want after a famous alum took you to the title.
I was thinking the same thing - $600k, wow, didn't he just graduate a few years ago? Didn't realize it was over 20 years ago, time flies! Buts it's really hard to judge position coaches that aren't ace recruiters.
Plus I know every job seems easy if you aren't the one doing it lol. Not that you implied anything like that.
Not sure how he deserves that
"Deserves" has nothing to do with it. Market economics, my friend.
Details, please, when you're ready.
He was definitely the worst coach on the staff last season. His recruiting is terrible, his WR development has been bad. Nice guy, Michigan man but not up to “market” standards. And then adding pass game duties? We’ll see
Ron Bellamy joined us in 2021 and was the safeties coach the first year. He is listed as the primary recruiter for Jadyn Davis as well as receivers L'Marion Stewart, Semaj Morgan and Karmello English. He also helped recruit Will Johnson and Keon Sabb who only left because we are so good at the safety group that he left.
As the West Bloomfield HS coach, he was consistently successful and helped Donovan Edwards make the decision to pick UM. That's been slightly helpful in a couple of big games...
I also don't get the WR development. He's been the WR coach for 2 seasons. CJ and Roman will most likely be drafted despite playing for a team that hardly threw the ball after the first half of the PSU game. The WRs starting next year will be his. Let's see how they he actually develops receivers from HS and if we're actually willing to throw the ball to make this call.
I'm glad that we have him and think this was a reasonable and fair deal for both.
I’m not sure how I feel exactly about Bellamy as a WR coach, both as a recruiter and on field coach. Say what you want about Gattis as a OC or play caller, but he really knew how to recruit WRs and coach them. All of the WRs that were big parts of our run the last 3 years were recruited by Gattis and now we’ve got a pretty unproven & inexperienced WR room (even Tyler Morris was recruited by Gattis). There were times the last two seasons where our WRs struggled to get separation against non marquee opponents (since we save our big RPS plays for the 3-4 big games each season and just run vanilla stuff against everyone else). This recruiting cycle will be enormous for Bellamy at the WR spot and we’ll see how the WR room progresses on the field.
Agree on Gattis. Wide receivers definitely seemed better coached under Gattis and for the first time in awhile didn’t appear to have as much trouble getting open.
I’m happy for these guys, but some of these salaries register as bidding against ourselves. I only raise that bc I’m still bewildered that there was a dollar amount on Coach Herb that we refused to match when we clearly could’ve.
“Herb” was already the highest paid at his position in the country. He wanted to go to the NFL with Jim, so he asked for unreasonable terms. Meaning he is either granted completely unreasonable terms or he gets an easy exit.
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Herbert was not negotiating in good faith. Michigan shouldn’t be criticized for not caving in.
What exactly were those “unreasonable terms?” At this point all I’ve seen is unverified rumors that some refute as even being true.
Well all we have to go on are unverified rumors. But again, he’s already the highest paid S&C coach in the country. What else could he be asking for that isn’t a ton of money or crazy long contract that would cause him to leave if he’s not given his request?
Common sense tells you his decision to leave isn’t about pennies. He either asked for a significant raise, which is unreasonable when you’re already the highest paid guy. Or he asked for crazy contract length, which is unreasonable because S&C coaches are typically tied to the HC and that puts the AD in a potentially difficult buyout scenario. Simply put, he asked Michigan for something Michigan couldn’t give him. Whatever that was.
What you’re saying makes more sense in a scenario where we’re pursuing an external, “home run” type hire. But Ben Herbert was a known quantity, and an extremely well-regarded one. You don’t approach him like he’s “just an S&C coach” because he’s so much more, especially here. He was a big enough asset in recruiting that his mere presence helped Michigan continue to override concerns about mediocre NIL. And in an era where coordinators are making upwards of $2 million, it’s concerning that anyone close to the program wouldn’t recognize that he undoubtedly carried commensurate value.
It’s past tense now, but I’m honestly worried about Moore’s ability to sustain past the next year or two. Stanford learned the hard way too - as soon as Turley left, they tanked.
Not sure who Stanford replaced Turley with, but Justin Tress has been at Michigan since 2018 (when Herbert came). And as an added bonus, he worked under Herbert at Arkansas for two years. 8 years under Herbert says it's a pretty good bet that Tress will continue what Herbert built. I'm not so worried about a drop off here.
You don’t approach him like he’s “just an S&C coach”
They didn’t… they made him the highest paid S&C coach in the country. They already showed him how valued he was. They showed how highly thought of he was. And he asked for more, and it was too much. Just because you’re highly regarded and an asset doesn’t mean there is no limit to what you’re actually worth.
There's been no indication that Herbert was not offered a shit ton of money by Sherrone Moore to stay. Nor has there been anything that might lead any rational person to believe it was just about money (a lot with the Chargers or not enough with Michigan).
People leave good jobs for other opportunities all the time. Maybe he just really likes working for Harbaugh and felt he could be the first S&C coach in the NFL to be a major impact on his franchise.
I am so tired of the narrative that if someone leaves it's cuz Michigan wasn't willing to pony up. Like I tell my kids all the time, "just because you can afford something, does not mean it's a wise idea to buy it."
This is slightly concerning. Hopefully his passing game is better than it was at WB. One of the most basic offenses I've seen in 20 years of coaching. Jet sweep, QB draw, Inside zone, fade. Rinse and repeat.
Most HS offenses are pretty basic though.
True. This was a different level of simple though.
Well high school football offenses are generally very basic. And it’s pretty difficult to find a QB both capable of operating complex offenses and having the arm talent to execute. I mean, how many D1 caliber QBs come out of the state of Michigan on a yearly basis?
I could go for a $255k raise.
Bellamy is a recruiter. He’s not a tactician. Never has been. Sherrone’s first misstep imho.
We don't know that yet. I would not expect a HS coach to be a brilliant tactician. Bellamy has now been a college coach for a few years, I'd venture to guess that he's learned a thing or two.
Is is an ideal title to give him? Who knows, also who cares. Moore was an excellent OC for us and his hands will be all over the game plans. If he named Bellamy OC, then yes I would be worried but it's likely just another title to reward him and get him a new 'role' to get more experience.
EDIT: Found this on 247 (not paywalled) about our OL guys being years ahead of everyone else. Moore was never an OL coach before, and that turned out pretty well. Let's just wait and see what Bellamy does before we call this a bad idea.
“I was talking to an offensive line coach this morning who’s met with just about everyone who’s come through here this year. And he said the Michigan guys are like two years ahead of everybody in terms of their knowledge, their understanding, their maturity,” Jeremiah said.