Isaiah Bell, ex-Wolverine

Isaiah Bell (#4) was an Under Armour All-American in 2009

Linebacker Isaiah Bell, who would have been a redshirt junior this coming fall, has left the football program.  He was a class of 2009 recruit out of Youngstown (OH) Liberty, a high school classmate of running back Fitzgerald Toussaint and 2010 signee Antonio Kinard, the latter of whom never made it to Michigan.  It's unclear whether Bell plans to transfer to another school.

I was always a fan of Bell's abilities from the time he came out of high school.  He was a large, fairly fast free safety as a high schooler.  The rumors surrounding him since he arrived at college were that he was misinformed about his college position.  When he arrived on campus in 2009, he was expecting to play free safety.  Perhaps because he had become a little too large, Rich Rodriguez and his staff stuck him at linebacker.  Bell was reportedly frustrated with that role, struggled to buy into the strength and conditioning program, and floundered on the bench for his entire career.  Bell's problems seemed to be more mental than physical.  The only real glimpse we had of Bell was during the spring game in April 2011, when he played a bit as a weakside end, much like Jake Ryan did in nickel situations this past season.  As MGoBlog mentioned, he was left off the fall camp roster last season because the coaches can only have 105 players in camp.

Bell is the eighth class of 2009 signee to depart prior to exhausting eligibility.  For recaps of other former Wolverines, check out the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia.