Skyler Bell Set to Suit Up One Last Time, Leading UConn’s Push for Historic 10th Win
STORRS - UConn wide receiver Skyler Bell has already cemented his place in Huskies history. Now, he's lacing up one final time to help his team chase something that’s never been done before: a 10-win season at the FBS level.
Bell, fresh off a record-breaking year and the program’s first-ever consensus All-American honor, confirmed he’ll play in the upcoming Fenway Bowl against Army - putting to rest any speculation that he might sit out to protect his NFL Draft stock.
“I never said I wasn’t playing,” Bell told reporters after practice Friday. “Being with this team and being with these guys the last two years, I think the brotherhood thing is super real.
Just going out there and finishing things with your brothers... I’d be remiss to leave here and look back at the last game saying, ‘Why didn’t I suit up with my guys one last time?’”
That sentiment - brotherhood, loyalty, and finishing what he started - has become a defining theme of Bell’s time in Storrs.
A Bronx native and Taft School alum, Bell transferred to UConn from Wisconsin ahead of the 2024 season. After a strong debut campaign, he re-entered the portal and had plenty of offers to jump back into a Power Five program. But instead of chasing a bigger spotlight, Bell stayed put, betting on himself and on the program he helped elevate.
That bet paid off in a big way.
In 2025, Bell put together a season for the ages. He was named a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award and earned first-team All-American honors from the Associated Press, the AFCA, and The Sporting News - the first Husky to ever do so.
He also picked up second-team honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation. On the stat sheet, he was dominant: 101 receptions, 13 touchdowns, and 1,278 receiving yards - just 77 yards shy of breaking the school’s single-season record set by Mark Didio in 1991, back before UConn moved to the FBS.
And yet, for all the accolades and attention, Bell remains grounded.
“I didn’t know I was a first-team All-American until the AP came out. I got a text from Coach [Kashif Moore] saying, ‘First Team!’
and I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Bell recalled with a smile.
“I went on Twitter and, bang. I just stared at it for a while like, whoa.
I called my family and just took everything in.”
“When I came here, I didn’t have my eyes on setting records. I came here to be the best receiver I could be, and that came along with it.
That was great and all, but I just want to play football. I want to go out there with my guys and have fun playing the game I love.”
In today’s college football landscape, it’s become increasingly common for NFL-bound players to skip non-playoff bowls. Add in the transfer portal chaos - especially after the departure of head coach Jim Mora - and it would’ve been easy for Bell to sit this one out.
But that’s not who he is. And he’s encouraging others to suit up, too.
“I keep it very real with a lot of my teammates,” Bell said. “If you’re in the portal and looking to go somewhere else, it’s just more film you can put on to show what you can do.
You could think of it as an opportunity, or you could think of it as a risk. But you could get hurt walking down the street.
That’s just how I think.”
He pointed to players like running back Cam Edwards - another standout currently in the portal - as examples of guys who could boost their stock by showing out one more time.
“A guy like Cam, what’s it gonna hurt if you rush for another 200 yards? It can’t hurt. It just shows you are what you say you are.”
Around the program, Bell’s decision is resonating.
UConn hasn’t opened practices to the media, and interim head coach Gordon Sammis - who took over after Mora left for Colorado State before landing the OC job at TCU - hasn’t spoken publicly. But from conversations with several players, it’s clear that Bell’s leadership is helping hold things together.
Edwards was at practice. So was most of the defense, according to defensive back Cam Chadwick.
The coaching staff, minus Mora, is still intact. And while a few players have opted out - quarterback Joe Fagnano and offensive linemen Ben Murawski and Carsten Casady - the mass exodus that some feared hasn’t materialized.
Ty Chan and Toriyan Johnson are expected to step in on the offensive line, while quarterback duties will likely fall to Nick Evers, who saw action in nine games last season. Freshman Ksaan Farrar and redshirt sophomore Tucker McDonald, who missed most of the year with a hand injury, are also in the mix.
For teammates like Chadwick, who’s also in the portal but plans to play in the Fenway Bowl, Bell’s choice speaks volumes.
“It shows a lot about his character,” Chadwick said. “It shows he’s really bought into what we’ve worked for since last January. Seeing him talk about it and hearing his advice… I think I made a good choice.”
Center Wes Hoeh, who will play his final college game alongside Bell, echoed that sentiment.
“It shows his leadership, his love for this team, this brotherhood. That shows a lot.”
Tight end Louis Hansen, a Massachusetts native also wrapping up his college career, said the locker room remains focused despite the turnover.
“There’s a lot of moving parts right now, but the common theme is football,” Hansen said. “We get to go out and practice and play, and that’s keeping everybody together and focused on the task at hand - winning our 10th game.”
“We started this thing as a team and we’re still that same team. So why not go out and finish it together, do things the right way, and end this run - which has been a great run - on a high note?”
With Skyler Bell leading the charge one last time, UConn isn’t just chasing history. They’re doing it the right way - together.