THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Dia Bell is ready for a big senior season
On one hand, Dia Bell’s junior season at American Heritage was a success because his team accomplished the ultimate team goal, winning a state championship. On the other hand, it was a frustrating end to the year for Bell, with a lower leg injury ending his season prematurely, forcing him to watch the action from the sidelines.
The Texas commitment is back to full strength and ready to go. He and his teammates are in the early stages of fall camp, and Bell said it’s good to be back in action.
“It feels good. We have a couple of new guys on the offense, a couple of new guys on the defense. We’re just trying to get everybody on the same page, and hopefully have a great run like we did last year when we ended up winning state,” Bell said. :Hopefully I can actually win this year as a player instead of helping coaching. But it’s been good this first week.”
Bell was able to navigate his team into the second round of the state playoffs last year before the injury derailed his season. While out of action, he used the time to help coach some of the younger players on the team and to see things from a different vantage point, something he thinks will help him this year.
“Sitting out due to injury is never fun. But it gave me a different perspective,” Bell said. “It helped me grow as a player because I got to see the game from a different perspective. But being back on the field now, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Coming into the 2025 season, Bell has some goals he’d like to accomplish, starting with bringing home more team hardware.
“The entire team’s goal is to do exactly what we did last year and go back-to-back state championships. And then for me personally, I won Florida Gatorade Player of the Year last year, but I want to try to get national this year and win Florida again,” Bell said. “But at the same time, I’ve broken most of the passing records at the school but there are a couple more that I’m chasing. Besides that, the main goal is the main goal, and that’s winning the state championship.”
As a junior in 2024, Bell threw for 2,597 yards and 29 touchdowns. He also showcased his running ability, going for 561 yards and 5 scores on the ground. Most regard Bell as a pure passer because of his arm talent, but he said he’s more than capable of making plays with his legs when the opportunity presents itself.
“I do feel like people sleep on it a little bit. Teams last year started noticing it a little bit more. I would much rather play in the pocket and be a real quarterback but at the same time, I do have the ability to extend plays and make plays with my legs if I have to, when it’s needed to keep the defense on their toes so they can’t just think we’re one-dimensional where they can just all drop back and not have to worry about me or my running back,” Bell said. “Or they can all stack the box and then we can still throw it over the top. I feel like my legs are a big part of who I am as a quarterback, and I can use them when I have to.”
Bell enjoyed a tremendous summer, taking home MVP honors at the Elite 11 Finals. That effort helped boost his recruiting profile, making the future Longhorn the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the country and the nation’s No. 4-ranked prospect regardless of position.
“I’m very excited and grateful that I was able to win the Elite 11 and do what I was able to do this summer, but at the same time I know that winning that stuff and having this sort of media attention I’ve had this summer is not the end of the world. There’s still a lot more to be had and a lot more to work towards, because I’m definitely not a finished product and nowhere near my final destination and goal,” Bell said. “There’s just a lot more work I’ve got to put in. It’s a testament to show that the hard work that I have put in is working. I’ve just got to keep sticking to it and it’ll take me wherever I need to go.”
