Blue-Grey All-American Bowl: Bell Makes Sideline Return

NFL veteran with the Carolina Panthers, Myles Hartfield is among the many alumni of East Coast Prep, founded by NFL veteran Dick Bell after his professional career came to an end.

Similar to year’s past, and based on a track record second to none when it comes to evaluating talent, NFL veteran Dick Bell was announced as head coach for this year’s series of Blue-Grey All-American Bowls.

The games take place at Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium on Dec. 14, Jan. 18 and Jan. 25. The action will be broadcast on ESPN family of networks or Impact Football Network (pending contract negotiations).

When it comes to football resumes, few are better than his. For starters, back in 1979, Bell was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a productive career continued on with the San Diego Chargers.

After his days were done on the gridiron, Bell stayed close to the game. A wildly successful NFL agent with Blue Chip Sports Management (1986-2000), Bell represented two first-round selections in the NFL Draft, 56 picks overall. No surprise, he was Pro Football Executive of the Year (1991).

There’s no substitute for experience and Bell has done it all. A Massachusetts native, he was named First-Team All-American at Rhode Island and a three-time All-Conference selection (1976-1978). Prior to, at Dean College, he was the team’s Most Valuable Player (1974).

In an effort to give back to the game, in 2011, Bell founded one of country’s top post-graduate programs, East Coast Prep (follow the link). In fact, the school was the only one recommended by Blue-Grey Football.

Upon arrival to East Coast Prep and under Bell’s guidance for nearly a decade, attendees who were not eligible to play in NCAA Division I or I-AA, also Division II, raised their scores enough to qualify by season’s end.

With grades in order after attending East Coast Prep, student-athletes annually signed scholarships to play at the country’s top colleges, in the ACC, SEC, Big Ten Conference and Big 12 Conference, among others.

No stranger to the brand’s All-American Bowl, Bell has coached several times in the recent past, with multiple games held at Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium and Atlanta Falcons’ Mercedes Benz Stadium.

One look at the game’s past head honchos, you’ll see that Bell was in some select company (follow the link). We’re talking about a group of NFL Hall of Famers, Super Champions, Pro Bowlers, etc. The list goes on and on.

Furthermore, Bell-mentored alumni of the brand’s All-American Bowl includes current NFL stars Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, James Robinson, Lonnie Johnson, Julian Love and Troy Pride, just to name a few.

That said, and once again, it was a no-brainer decision to select Bell as head coach of this year’s games. His name, after all, has been synonymous with success. All signs point to that being the case moving forward, as well.