Corey Bell Jr. hopes his fresh start at WR lines up with start of something big for Carolina football

The former defensive back began his transition to receiver during the spring.

Rob Kinnan - USA TODAY Sports

Corey Bell Jr. arrived at Carolina in 2015 as a highly-recruited cornerback with a bright future, part of a program that appeared to have even better prospects down the road as the Tar Heels won 11 straight games on their march to the ACC Championship Game.

That optimism didn’t materialize for Bell or Carolina, with the defensive back battling injuries on his way to appearing in just nine games over the past two seasons — that number being the same total the Tar Heels have lost in each season.

Much like the Carolina program, Bell is looking for a fresh start as he begins his senior season on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage as a member of the receiving corps.

“I feel like I’m full adjusted, compared to spring,” he said. “During spring, I was just out there running and learning as I go. Now, I know what to do and why, so I feel like I’m adjusted.

How different can it be, though?

Cornerbacks and receivers operate in the same area against one another. Quickness and speed are an emphasis for the position, while height and physicality are both distinguishing characteristics in stars at the positions.

Historically, it’s been one of the few positions where players can make a two-way cameo, with the likes of Deion Sanders and Devin Hester doing both, while Patrick Peterson occasionally takes practice snaps there for the Arizona Cardinals.

That should highlight just how special those players are, because according to Bell, receiver and corner are worlds apart.

“This summer was huge because (defensive back) to receiver, you kind of use different muscles,” he said. “Just getting my legs stronger, more used to cutting and coming back, things like that. Those three months were huge.”

In addition to different workouts in the offseason strength program, Bell spent the summer working with receivers Dyami Brown, Toe Groves, Roscoe Johnson to perfect the finer points of route-running and footwork, battling his former position-mates D.J. Ford and Myles Wolfolk.

Up until now, Bell believed that defensive backs faced a tougher job in conditioning because their job is more reactive to offense than proactive.

In his mind, a tired receiver always had an advantage over a tired cornerback because he knew where he was going before the play.

Quickly, Brown has realized that he was wrong about just how exhausting playing receiver can be — especially in offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s uptempo system.

“To me, that was a myth,” he said. “Receivers definitely get their money’s worth. I’m not going to say I didn’t respect it, but I did think it was a little less than what it was because man, we’re out there running.”

His experience at defensive back is helping him with the mental side of playing receiver, and even an advantage for fellow receivers who can pick his brain on how defenders approach the battle.

Now, the only thing is getting Brown to realize he’s a receiver now.

“We gave us some trouble sometimes in the meeting because he’ll still be in his little defensive ways or sit with the defense in an offensive meeting,” Johnson said. “We just had to get him on the right track.”

Bell arrived at Carolina with the goal of leaving the program in better condition than when he found it.

And while that might be tough to do, given the unprecedented success of his true freshman season, his fresh start could coincide with setting the Tar Heels on a new path. 

"I want to leave a mark myself," he said. "Yeah, I switched positions and I've got one year to make something shake."