Michigan Wolverines football rocked the college football world by turning around Belleville (Mich.) High five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood from LSU.

With this news came the announcement from Champions Circle, Michigan’s official collective, that Oracle was a founder Larry Ellison and his UM alum wife Jolin Ellison were “instrumental” in helping the Wolverines land Underwood, “providing invaluable advice and financial resources.”

Ellison, According to Forbes.com’s real-time billionaires list, he is the second richest person in the worldbehind only Tesla and SpaceX founders Elon Musk. The 80-year-old’s estimated net worth is $233.3 billion.

Founder of Barstool Sports Dave Portnoywho said earlier this season that he would be willing to help Michigan land a top quarterback by signing them to a NIL contract with his company, declined to sign Underwood after the signing, saying he has played a “tiny role”. ”

The truth is that other “Michigan men and women” played an even larger role, including the Ellisons.

“I was trending worldwide when it happened” Portnoy explained this on the Barstool College Football Show on Tuesday. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, Dave has Michigan Bryce Underwood,’ and it all came from the Pick ‘Em (podcast) when we were just talking. I said, “I’m going to get us a quarterback because I’m a Michigan guy.” And I’m going to put my own money, $2-3 million, into this thing and make sure we have a quarterback and nothing like that ever will happen again.”

“This got the ball rolling for what will forever be known as Michigan’s Renaissance. Yes, we won the national title last year, this year we were back. But it set off a series of events, essentially a chain reaction. And when we did it, I said, ‘I want to do it myself.’ I want to find the guy, I don’t want the NIL (collective) involved, and then we’ll do stuff from Barstool.”

“Well, I got a call from the Michigan football team. And they say, ‘Hey, we saw what you said.’ “It’s great to have so many men from Michigan willing to step forward and take the lead. Those who stay will be champions, the team, the team, the team, the team.”

“And they said, ‘Hey, there’s this donor who wants to talk to you.’ I said, ‘I’ll do it myself. I don’t have to talk to anyone.'”

“‘Please, this woman is a big fan of Barstool, a big fan of yours. She would like to talk to you. Her name is Jolin.’

“I thought, ‘Okay, I’m working on a quarterback.’ I’m studying the subject, what do we need to do?’

“They said, ‘Oh, by the way, her husband is a guy named Larry Ellison.’ Have you ever heard of him?’

“I said, ‘Larry Ellison? Like the second richest man in the world? Yes, I’ll take the call.’ We’re on a Zoom that night – me, Jolin, Larry Ellison.”

According to Portnoy, part of the conversation went like this:

Portnoy: Larry, where did you go to school?
Larry Ellison: Oh, Illinois.
Portnoy: Jolin, what’s wrong with you?
Jolin Ellison:Michigan.
Portnoy: Interesting. When did you go to school?
Jolin Ellison: The Brady Hoke era. I never want to experience that era again. We are national champions. I have two children. I can’t stand waking up on a Saturday and knowing we’re not the best team on the field.
Portnoy: I agree with you, what do we have to do? What do we have to do?

The next course of action, according to Portnoy, was to have a conversation with himself, the Ellisons and Underwood, the top overall recruit in the 2025 class.

“I said, ‘Count me in,'” Portnoy continued. “That was a month, a month and a half ago. So we hopped on Zoom — myself, Michigan football — and we talked and pitched to Bryce. I said, ‘First of all, listen to Barstool and the marketing, but more importantly, Larry Ellison and Jolin, no one can compete with that.’ ‘This guy is a legend.’ And we pitched and we pitched.”

Portnoy is extremely excited about the future of Michigan football under head coaching Sherrone Mooreespecially considering the Wolverines have key supporters like the Ellisons.

“Oh man, Michigan is back,” Portnoy said. “I didn’t know how it would come about or what role I would play. But Jolin said in that first phone call, “I needed someone to leave Michigan and show that they care about me as much as I do.” And it was like the megapowers united.

“I couldn’t be happier with the prospects. I was offered to do the entire book signing. Do you know the old book signing with the stars? We are so in step. I can barely wait for it. I couldn’t feel better about my program.”

Portnoy said he was uncomfortable with the recognition he received from Michigan fans for landing Underwood and brought up Jolin Ellison. But that’s not why she’s there.

“It was before it was really known. It’s like, “I’m getting a lot of this credit.” “I’m a little uneasy,” Portnoy revealed. “She said, ‘I don’t need the loan. I need national championships. I have to stack them.

“When I found out we had the second richest person in the world – the second richest person ever Earth – to say, ‘All I want to do is win.’ And by the way, on that first call, we talked to every quarterback: ‘Should we take him?’ I thought, “Ehhhh.” It was beautiful!”