The former ACT Brumbies coach and Wallabies assistant has returned from a stint at Leicester to lead a Waratahs side that won just twice and finished last in 2024.
The squad has been bolstered by the arrival of Test stars Taniela Tupou, Andrew Kellaway and Rob Leota from the defunct Melbourne Rebels.
They will also have the services of NRL recruit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii when the season begins against the Highlanders on February 14.
But by that stage last year Darren Coleman's side was already wounded, an 11-strong preseason injury list quickly swelling in what was Coleman's third and final season in charge.
Bell (toe) was among 10 contracted forwards to suffer season-ending injuries while six others were hobbled in a forgettable campaign.
McKellar "did a lot of research" when he arrived but admitted one look out his office window at the Daceyville surface revealed plenty.
"The field wasn't great when I turned up, that's for sure," he said on Tuesday.
Dan McKellar didn't like the look of the Waratahs' training pitch from his window and changed it. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)
"(If) you're training on a crap field, then that's going to load up your tendons and your joints and your muscles and that sort of thing.
"So if it's rock hard, you know what I mean?
"It's improved significantly ... the program's very, very different now.
"I've got no idea what they did last year, but we've worked really hard to ensure .... we don't do that, expose players (to injury).
"We've got to take them all the way to the edge, but not push them over the edge.
"And so far we've been pretty fortunate on the injury front."
Bell was among 42 fit and available players to endure the taxing Sydney heat under his former Test scrum coach and McKellar's set piece "guru" Dan Palmer, who followed him home from Leicester and coached Bell as a schoolkid.
"The turf last year was terrible ... my body didn't like that field," Bell said.
"You do 90 per cent of your work ... on a (training) field.
"So it's awesome that now we can go on the field and get better and ... not have to really worry about the injury stuff."
McKellar will face his old side (ACT Brumbies) in a trial game in Bowral on Saturday.
"Great friendships, relationships, great memories," he said of his time in Canberra.
"My intent is to build the same (at the Waratahs).
"We'll compete hard a couple of times a year and no doubt enjoy a cold beer in the sheds afterwards."
Bell, 24, has played more Tests (36) than Super Rugby games (30) since making his Wallabies debut in 2021.
"I've been stuck on the sidelines watching something unfold that obviously wasn't good," Bell said.
"A lot of us boys are definitely highly motivated in changing that narrative around us.
"It's been a poor two years, we know that."
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