Michigan football's new 'circle of trust' for wide receivers

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Not only is Michigan football becoming more disciplined off the field, but there’s also an on-field component working for the Wolverines, too.

One position that’s expected to make large strides this offseason is the wide receiver corps, a group that hasn’t exactly been lighting things up on the field in recent years. Much of that is schematic, as the Wolverines tilted more toward a run-heavy style of play. But with Kyle Whittingham taking over the program and Jason Beck the offense, changes have come to Ann Arbor on that front.

With Beck leading the charge as the new offensive coordinator, there’s a sense of accountability that’s being enacted across the offense. As senior wideout Kendrick Bell tells it, the players who can be counted on to do the right things out on the football field are within Beck’s ‘circle of trust,’ and those will be the ones who get to play in games.

“Yeah, it’s kind of funny. So really just going out there, doing your job, doing it the way you’re supposed to do it,” Bell said. “We call this thing called ‘a circle of trust.’ And it’s funny you say that — we have to be in that circle to play, I guess. So it’s weird.

“So just having a bunch of the options, I told. . . Rainer, I told him having the options to throw the ball, run the ball, and different schemes to get people open. So I think Coach Beck brings a lot of pluses to this offense.”

Bell is one of the few players on this team who is now working with his third head coach, as well as his fourth offensive coordinator. Having committed to Michigan as a quarterback in the 2023 class, Bell was part of Jim Harbaugh’s last maize and blue team, the one that won the national championship.

While he wouldn’t disparage the previous staff, he’s noticing that the Whittingham era more closely resembles Harbaugh and his sense of discipline and attention to detail than his successor. And that’s a welcome change, he says.

“Yeah, you can say that, yeah, a lot more accountability,” Bell said. “You can’t get away with certain things, but I will say it is nice to have, it’s kind of like a breath of fresh air with this new staff, I’ll say.”

As for the wide receivers, the scheme isn’t quite as cumbersome. Tight end Zack Marshall had commented on how the pass game allows for more playmaking, and Bell was inclined to agree. The new offense gives his group more leeway to go out and play as kids would in the schoolyard, compared to some of the previous schemes.

“We’re just going out there and playing free,” Bell said. “So I tell the guys in the receiver room all the time, go out there, have fun, play fast. And in this offense, you get to really do that, instead of just really thinking strategically to really do that. You have to really go out there and be a kid, have fun, play fun.”

Fans will get to see the new-look team and the new-look offense on April 18, when Michigan football hosts the annual spring game at The Big House.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football’s ‘circle of trust’ for players

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