In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last week, the Michigan Wolverines have landed their biggest recruiting win to date in the Sherrone Moore era with five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood – the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class. Last Thursday I transferred from LSU to Michigan.

This is a monumental turnaround for the short and long-term future of the program. As we’ve discussed in detail, Underwood helps Michigan on the field with his elite dual-threat traits and winning habits. Not many high school freshmen or sophomores get to lead their respective high school teams to a state championship.

The benefits on the field are clear, and signing Underwood means other elite recruits will flock to Ann Arbor to play with him. In terms of recruiting, Michigan’s 2025 class jumped from 15th to ninth overall by moving, and Michigan’s ranking is bound to improve as more elite players potentially transfer to play for Michigan.

Off the field, one thing has become abundantly clear: Michigan’s mindset when it comes to name, image and likeness (NIL) has changed for the better.

As I reported a few weeks ago when Michigan announced its partnership with Passes, it took a long time for the university and everyone in the athletic department to fully embrace the world of NIL. Both Jim Harbaugh and Juwan Howard criticized the university for its caution early in the process, and numerous fans on social media voiced their opinions every time a five-star university left Michigan off its list of top schools.

The initial caution made sense – navigating the world of NIL is scary, and Michigan football didn’t necessarily need NIL in the short term given how good the team has been over the last three seasons. Not to mention, with no safeguards in place to protect athletes, a general lack of guarantees, and a laissez-faire approach from the NCAA, Michigan was not as quick to embrace NIL as some of its SEC peers.

While that caution was initially warranted, it left Michigan in the dust. And without a change in their mindset, the Wolverines would have a long road ahead of them to return to the title contenders they were from 2021-23.

The prosecution of Underwood would not have been possible without wealthy donors like Larry Ellison and well-organized groups like Champions Circle, which released the following statement after Underwood’s turnaround:

We would like to thank our founding members and others associated with Champions Circle who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to enable the continuation of our work building championship teams in Michigan.

Founding member and Chairman Nate Forbes said, “We are thrilled to keep Bryce home in Michigan as he continues to build his legacy.” I would like to personally thank Jolin and Larry Ellison, who were instrumental in making this possible by They provided Champions Circle with invaluable advice and financial resources.”

We encourage all parties that have publicly expressed interest to support Michigan’s NIL’s efforts to join the 11,000 people who have contributed to the Champions Circle. Any fan who would like to support our efforts to keep Michigan at the top and best can get involved through our “Those Who Stay (Home)…” fundraiser.

Champions Circle is a community of Michigan alumni and fans who work together to support the University of Michigan’s student-athletes.

Go Blue!

The results of the Chase are obviously popular with Michigan fans, but when it comes to the Chase itself, Michigan fans seem to have mixed feelings. In a recent poll, 53 percent of respondents disagreed with Michigan’s NIL push for Underwood. It is important to note that this poll was conducted before Ellison, the world’s third richest person, was publicly revealed as a major donor and was described as “significant” in the statement above.

I understand the Michigan fans who disagreed with this approach. With Carter Smith moving to Wisconsin, Michigan would be without a quarterback for 2025. Not to mention, the coverage of the Underwood persecution in certain media outlets has annoyingly bordered on clickbait, and I’m sure fans would have been disappointed if all this hoopla had been for nothing.

It makes perfect sense to be upset about how much media coverage this hit garnered, and the dollar amount is hard to swallow. There are no guarantees when it comes to recruiting, and spending more than $10 million on a player, no matter how talented he is, can feel risky.

But it’s not like the reported $10.5 million violates Michigan’s salary cap. There is no salary cap in the NIL world – at least not one set in stone by the NCAA. This money came from a single donor and was not crowdfunded through an unproven subscription-based social media service. And most importantly, this highly publicized pursuit shows recruits and their families something important that couldn’t be said about the visit to Ann Arbor just a few years ago – Michigan is now ready to play the zero game.

Combine that with the other benefits of attending Michigan – including, but not limited to, a winning tradition, a loud home environment and a degree from an elite university – makes Michigan a pretty tempting sell on the recruiting trail.

Michigan likes to brag about being the “leaders and best,” but the reality is that pedigree isn’t enough to convince recruits. The willingness to adapt to this new world is encouraging, and other recruits and their families see it too.

Swimming into the deep end with the blue bloods means playing the zero game in 2024. When everyone around you is driving too fast on the highway, the smartest thing to do is to go with the flow of traffic. When it comes to NIL, Michigan has its finger on the pulse.

The pursuit of Underwood shows that Michigan’s attitude toward NIL has changed. Like it or not, this change will help the Wolverines remain competitive in the short term and can help UM return to championship contender status in the long term.