ATHENS — Dillon Bell can tell things are different this spring in Athens.

He recognizes it is a younger team. Being one of the few seniors on the team, he finds himself as a leader of not just the wide receiver room but the entire team.

Given how last year ended — with a thud in a 23-10 loss to Notre Dame — Bell acknowledges the culture has to be different regarding this year’s team.

“Everyone’s trying to adapt,” Bell said. “A lot of people are picking up new roles to do, and we just gotta adapt and live up to the standard that the guys in the past have set. So I just say adapting and bringing the younger guys up to the standard.”

Bell isn’t just talking the talk to this point. He’s putting it into action.

He volunteered to play more snaps at running back, given Georgia’s injury situation at the moment.

Bell has played the position before and wants to show that he can and will do anything to help Georgia win.

“I feel like me being versatile, helping the team as much as I can, I feel like that was something that I wanted to do for the team,” Bell said. “I’m a team player. I’ll do whatever it takes to win championships and things like that.”

Bell has rushed for over 100 yards in each of the past two seasons. That Georgia feels good enough to move him should also speak highly of how the Bulldogs feel about the wide receiver position.

Playing in the oft-critized room last season, Bell acknowledged that Georgia needed more talent at wide receiver.

Which is why Bell was as aggressive as he was in recruiting Zachariah Branch out of the transfer portal.

“Personally, I wanted Zach to come here a lot,” Bell said. “I talked to him a lot about coming here. I don’t think people know that I talked to him for a long period of time.”

Branch spent his first two seasons at USC, only scratching the surface of what he brings to the table. Branch is versatile as a returner and a receiver, with his speed adding some much-needed juice to the Georgia offense.

“It definitely was big, you know, to have that team camaraderie, like I said, that brotherhood to know that somebody else in that room wants me to be in there with them to help the team and to, you know, get each other better as well,” Branch said of Bell. “It was just pretty cool just to get a chance to hear everybody’s experience, you know, to help me out, make my decision a little bit easier.”

Branch has only seen Bell’s internal fire grow this spring. Like Branch, Bell is now teammates with his brother, as Micah Bell transferred in from Vanderbilt.

Competing alongside Branch and his brother has only heightened Bell’s desire to be great.

“He’s a great guy. He’s a great player as well. You know, he brings that passion and fire as well to the group,” Branch said of Dillon Bell. “And he’s done a great job, you know, helping me learn the offense as well. So I definitely do appreciate him and everything that he’s helped me get to throughout this process. He’s doing real good out there. I’m trying to learn a lot from him as well.”

The younger Bell transferred in from Vanderbilt and will help out at the running back position.

Dillon recognizes that his younger brother is faster than he is, something he feels can help the Georgia offense.

Bell could’ve gone elsewhere following the 2024 season. He could’ve declared for the NFL draft or entered the transfer portal.

Neither ever crossed his mind. Bell wanted to build off of what he’s already accomplished during his time at Georgia.

And help this team have a better ending than last season’s team.

“I stay down to trust the process, man,” Bell said. “As I’ve matured over the years, this is the place I wanna be. And it doesn’t get better than the University of Georgia. And I trust Coach Smart and the coaching staff.”