By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
It was way back in January of 1985 when 18-year-old Mike Bellamy was first contacted by the University of Illinois. Little did he realize that it would be an event that would change the course of his life.
"I'll never forget when (then Illini assistant coach) Shawn Watson walked in," Bellamy said. "Illinois was the only university that came to recruit me at Kenwood (Academy). Unfortunately, at that time, I hadn't put myself in a position to understand what being a student-athlete meant."
Watson placed a call to coaches he knew at the College of DuPage and encouraged them to give the Chicago speedster a look. The gamble paid off for both parties. Not only did Bellamy's attitude towards academics improve, he became a junior college superstar in both football and track, catching 13 touchdown passes in 1986 on the gridiron and winning the national sprint title at 55 meters.
"I went from not receiving any attention in high school to being the No. 1 junior college receiver in the country and being able to go anywhere I wanted to," Bellamy said.
Yet, with the flurry of recruiters visiting him at DuPage, deep down Bellamy knew exactly where he wanted to continue his career.
"My father reminded me that Illinois was the first one to offer me and that I should be respectful of that," he said. "It was important for me to stay home and represent my state school."
Many of his Illini teammates had a mindset similar to Bellamy's. Of the 119 players on Illinois's football roster in 1989, 73 hailed from the Land of Lincoln, including 47 from Chicagoland schools.
Success with the Orange and Blue began slowly for Bellamy, but his hard work eventually paid dividends in game nine of the 1988 season versus Indiana. His two touchdown catches against the Hoosiers, including the game winner with only 26 seconds remaining, resulted in a 21-20 come from behind victory.
"That was the first time we all experienced believing in each other," Bellamy said. "That was the game that turned the page for Illinois football. From that point on, I didn't lose to any other team in the Big Ten except for Michigan."
The following season, Bellamy and his teammates powered their way to a 10-2 record and a top-10 ranking, including victories over Southern Cal, Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin, and a 31-21 triumph over Virginia in the Florida Citrus Bowl. Individually, Bellamy had 59 catches for 927 yards and eight touchdowns, earning him first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-America honors, and co-Illini Offensive Player of the Year acclaim with Jeff George.
Bellamy was a star in his playing days, earning second-team All-America honors in 1989 while leading the Illini to a 10-2 record and a Citrus Bowl win.
He became a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1990 NFL Draft and ultimately played five professional seasons, topping his career in 1996 by helping the Frankfurt Galaxy win the World Bowl.
Following a few years in private business, Bellamy returned to football as a coach, first in high school, then in 2011 at Clark-Atlanta University.
"My ego told me that I would immediately be the coach of a national power," Bellamy remembered, "but reality said, 'no, you won't'."
He returned to Illinois in 2012 to become assistant director of player personnel and relations, then was hired by Tim Beckman to be the team's receivers coach. Though the Illini passing game enjoyed record success through the efforts of Bellamy protégés like Steve Hull and Mike Dudek, team victories weren't as plentiful. So a change of staff in 2016 found Bellamy on the move again.
"When I wasn't retained on Lovie's original coaching staff, there were no hard feelings," Bellamy said. "I understood the business."
He then worked one season at Mississippi State and two more at Toledo, then got another opportunity in 2019 to return to Illinois. Offensive coordinator Rod Smith says Bellamy was an easy pick to fill his opening for a running backs coach.
"There were certain criteria we were looking for," Smith said. "We wanted a guy that understood who we are as a university and as a football program, someone that had extensive recruiting experience, and someone that had experience in developing young men. To me, Mike checked every box we were looking for. He was a no-brainer. Being an Illinois alum and being orange and blue, through and through, Mike Bellamy is the fabric of this university and this program."
Bellamy loves to recruit for his alma mater and develop relationships with prospects.
"My sales pitch to young men is that I want our relationship to be so good that in 10 years you'll name your son after me," he said. "I try to get to the core of the person and find out exactly what's important to them," he said. "Are they chasing logos … are they chasing opportunities … or are they looking for academics? You have to be sure of what you're selling and the product you're delivering."
According to Bellamy, "Plan A" for recruits should always be about academics.
"An 18-year-old in four years will graduate from college, then get drafted and play NFL football for three or four years," he said. "Then at age 26, then what? You may have saved up some money or you may have blown it all on trips to Aruba. Now you have to live a real life. We've all seen the stories of guys who are first-round picks and guys who weren't even drafted be failures and successes."
Like all of the coaches on Lovie Smith's staff, @CoachBellamy has major visibility on Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
"Coaches today have to be well versed in it," he said. "You have to be willing to commit the time to and focus on it. If you're not, you'll lose some of the kids. This is the way today's athletes find out about each other. Social media, for me, is at the top of the list of importance in terms of recruiting. Recruiting is what college football is all about. I want to be the best at what I do, so I'm going full speed."
He's working especially hard to get the state of Illinois's best athletes to play for its flagship university.
"For us," he says, "what better place to play than the state that has their name on their birth certificate and driver's license? Guys who were in my wedding were all from Illinois. These relationships go from four years to 40. When guys talk about playing together, why wouldn't you want to do it in front of your family and where you can be local heroes?"
