Signee Spotlight: WR Karmello English passes up on SEC opportunities for Michigan

Michigan nabbed one of the top offensive playmakers in the state of Alabama on National Signing Day last December in wide receiver Karmello English after a heated battle with Kentucky down the stretch.

“It was really the relationships that I had with them,” English said at the Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando right after NSD. “It was the whole coaching staff. It’s not just one person. It’s everyone. They have all reached out to me and have showed me love.”

The former Auburn commit, who held other offers from Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Florida, chose to leave the comfort of his region to be the third wide receiver signee to join Michigan’s 2023 recruiting class. 

“Michigan was there from Day 1, even when I verbally committed to Auburn,” English said. “Coach (Ron) Bellamy told me that ‘I’m not going to stop recruiting you until you sign on the dotted line.’ He stuck to his word.”

Auburn only had a pledge from English for a little over two months until the 6-foot, 186-pounder reopened his recruitment in September. English had already taken an official visit to Ann Arbor in the late spring, but Michigan was able to bring him and his family up again in mid-October for the Penn State game.

“When I left Michigan that day, I told my people that Michigan was the place where I wanted to be,” English said. “”But I didn’t really know until the Tuesday before signing day. That’s when I knew that Michigan was home. It was a tight race between them and Kentucky.”

Born and raised in Louisiana, Bellamy had connections and respect from key figureheads in the area that propelled the relationship between him and English.

“Coach Bellamy is a great person,” English said. “He’s not the type of person who will just fill your head up with lies or tell you what you want to hear. He’ll tell you what you need to hear. He’s always upfront. It’s never ‘he said’ or ‘she said.’ It’s real, and I can trust him.”

Bellamy and head coach Jim Harbaugh also flew down to Phenix City for an in-home visit, which led to English choosing Michigan over hefty NIL opportunities at Kentucky.

“It was the relationships that my family and I had with Coach Harbaugh, Coach Bellamy and all of them,” English said. “Everyone was chipping in and doing their jobs. My family appreciated that and really liked it up there.”