A blue-chip WR chose Michigan football. The rise of one NFL star is among the reasons why

When Ron Bellamy made his recruiting pitch to Jacob Washington, he showed him clips of Nico Collins.

Long before he became a budding star and earned a lucrative contract extension from the Houston Texans in May, Collins sparked intrigue in Ann Arbor.

At 6 feet 4, he was a tall, rangy receiver who had a penchant for making plays. But he never seemed to get the ball enough to generate a sustained impact with Michigan football. In three seasons, he collected 78 catches for 1,388 yards and 13 touchdowns — numbers that would compare to the totals produced by the NCAA’s top wideouts last fall alone.

Collins’ career, in many ways, helped solidify the perception of the Wolverines’ offense, which has been described as run-heavy, unbalanced and particularly unfavorable to outside skill players like Washington.

ALEX THE GREAT?Why Alex Orji may be the right fit for this particular Michigan football offense

But Washington — a four-star prospect from Archbishop Shaw in Marrero, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans — didn’t see it that way. Collins not only made it to the NFL as a third-round pick in 2021, but he eventually transformed into one of the league’s top targets. Perhaps Washington, with his 6-foot-3, 180-pound, frame, could trace a similar trajectory.

The man who sold him on that idea was none other than Bellamy, Michigan’s offensive pass game coordinator and third-year receivers coach who lettered as a wideout for the Wolverines at the turn of the century. Bellamy had credibility because he once starred at the same high school, and played under the same coach, as Washington does.

“We developed a strong relationship just built on trust and respect,” Washington told the Free Press after committing to the Wolverines this month.

Because of that rapport, Bellamy was able to allay any concerns about the negative effect of Michigan’s ground-centric offensive philosophy on receiving production, noting that the output of many starters was suppressed last year because they didn’t play all four quarters in several blowout victories. Despite the point's validity, it’s one of many explanations in recent years that have failed to satisfy skeptics who have grumbled that the Wolverines don’t throw enough to attract talented receivers.

“It’s a hard sell,” said a parent of a former Michigan wideout who transferred. “It doesn’t take a genius to recognize, hey man, these guys all want the ball.”

It has left Bellamy facing an uphill battle to market the Wolverines to pass catchers around the country. Since joining Michigan's staff in 2021, Bellamy has reeled in only three blue-chip wideouts, per 247 Sports' composite rankings. Two of those signees, Darrius Clemons and Karmello English, have already departed. The other, I’Marion Stewart, is still two months away from beginning his first college season.

Considering Michigan hasn’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since 2013, Bellamy’s pedestrian track record on the recruiting trail isn’t surprising. But he has tried to circumvent his obvious impediments by mining his contacts and returning to areas where he is a familiar face. To that point, he pulled sophomore Semaj Morgan out of West Bloomfield, the school he coached to a Division 1 state championship in January 2021. He also made a pilgrimmage to the New Orleans area, where he reconnected with Hank Tierney, his old coach at Archbishop Shaw.

Before he came back for a second stint at the Catholic school in Louisiana, Tierney was 60 miles down the road, overseeing the football program at Ponchatoula High. There, he introduced Bellamy to Amorion Walker. Walker arrived at Michigan as a receiver two years ago, left as a defensive back in January, and then transferred back a few months later to play his original position on offense.

LOVELAND'S TIME?Can Michigan football's leading receiver actually line up at TE? We'll find out in 2024.

“I don’t know if you know much about Amorion, but he’s a physical freak,” Tierney told the Free Press.

Former U-M coach Jim Harbaugh made a similar observation last year, calling him a “unicorn.” But the 6-3, 180-pound Walker never found his footing as a wideout, grabbing just one pass for four yards before he moved to the other side of the ball. As he underwent that transition back in 2022, Walker had come to accept that he would have a limited ceiling if he stayed where he had been.

“Do I think anybody (here) could get 100 catches?” he said then. “Not frankly. … You just got to do it very efficiently, whatever you’re doing.”

Michigan’s outside skill players understood that.

As Roman Wilson, the team’s leading receiver in 2023, said last summer, “It is what it is. … We’re very good at running the ball.”

The Wolverines chose to emphasize that strength this past season, and the results followed.

Michigan kept the ball on the ground nearly 60% of the time, rolling to an undefeated record and a national championship. Thirteen players were then drafted in April, including Wilson and fellow receiver Cornelius Johnson. Wilson was taken in the third round and Johnson in the seventh.

“It’s a Pro-style offense,” Bellamy told the Free Press in December 2022. “There are schools where you can go catch 100 balls in. But are you going to have the success? Is that going to get you ready for the next level? Then there are systems that help you refine your tools, develop your skill set and then give you an opportunity to do well at the next level. We pride ourselves on that.”

Collins, in many ways, showed proof of that concept.

It’s why Washington became so intrigued with the idea of playing at Michigan, where he saw a path toward a brighter future after listening to Bellamy’s pitch.

“He showed me my role in the offense and how I could contribute,” he said. “They don’t have a lot of tall receivers on the roster. So, I could come in immediately and be unique.”

Michigan’s courtship of Washington intensified over the past five months. Bellamy flew down to New Orleans early in the year. Then, in April, Washington came to Ann Arbor, where he watched a spring practice and fell in love with the high-tempo pace of the drill work.

When factoring in the Michigan's strong academic profile, the Wolverines' recent success and Washington's connection to Bellamy, Tierney said, “It’s a good fit.”

Washington, after all, should have no trouble adjusting to the Wolverines’ offense, because Shaw, with its spread-option scheme, is also a run-first team powered by another Michigan commitment: three-star tailback Jasper Parker.

Last year, after Washington transferred from nearby Jesuit High, Tierney watched him steadily improve over the course of the season and then capitalize on the opportunities he was given. The progress has carried over to this offseason, as Washington has spent hours in the weight room, to add mass, and more time on the field honing his technique with a trainer. A boffo performance in a spring game left Tierney convinced he’s ready to take the next step.

“He is doing everything in his power to get better,” Tierney noted.

By the time he enrolls next year, Washington hopes he’ll be ready to make an impact at Michigan. His size gives him the confidence he can.

“What really resonated with me is that all the great Michigan receivers in the past, they were tall receivers,” Washington said.

Look no further than Collins.

The rising NFL star who once came to symbolize the Wolverines’ inability to maximize its best pass catchers is now being used to illustrate why Michigan should be a destination for players like Washington. As the program's newest receiver commitment can attest, it’s a rather compelling argument.

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin