Michigan Wolverines Football Coach Talks About NIL and the Recruiting Trail

A Michigan Wolverines football coach opened up about NIL and their approach to recruiting.

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore walks off the bus during team arrival before the Michigan State game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Michigan Wolverines were on a bye last weekend, as the players received a much-needed rest in what has been a tumultuous season.

Last season’s champions have struggled in 2024. They are 5-5, as they have been undone by shaky quarterback play, unable to replace J.J. McCarthy, who was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL Draft.

While the players were afforded a chance to recharge for the stretch run with the bye week, it was anything but quiet for the coaching staff. With Signing Day quickly approaching, they hit the recruiting trail hoping to secure commitments from the sport’s future stars playing in high school.

The Wolverines have been garnering a lot of headlines recently as they attempt to persuade five-star+ quarterback Bryce Underwood to renege on his verbal commitment to the LSU Tigers.

They have reportedly offered him a massive NIL deal that would pay $10.5 million over his four collegiate seasons. Dave Portnoy, the owner of Barstool Sports, has been involved in the process and has previously pledged $1-3 million to help his favorite team land a quarterback every offseason.

Head coach Sherrone Moore revealed recently that most of his days are taken up by NIL and recruiting.

“That’s 50% of my day, if not more,” Moore said of NIL and recruiting Nov. 4 in an interview with WXYZ, via Charlie Pappalardo of The Michigan Daily. “Getting that stuff to where it needs to be to continue getting our student athletes what they deserve, (we’re) continuing to work that every single day.”

It is certainly a change from how things were run by Jim Harbaugh. While the now-head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers embraced NIL and revenue sharing, he wasn’t big on the idea of paying huge sums to individual players or engaging with the donors and collectives.

Moore is facing those challenges head-on, as he knows that is what it will take for Michigan to remain a powerhouse and land the top high school recruits and players who hit the transfer portal.

“It’s part of football now, right?” Moore said of NIL shaping his recruiting strategy. “It’s part of recruiting and it’s been a huge piece of it (for us). We’re just continuing to get the best players that fit us and the best players we can, and we’re getting the support that we need to do that.”

Money is a big part of the equation now in college football; just look at what the Wolverines are attempting with Underwood. But the head coach still tries to do his best, at least when talking to the high school athletes, to keep things focused on the field.

“We really rely on (NIL) not being the conversation with me,” Moore said. “I really talk about the football aspect — what we can do, what the University can do, what our alumni can do. (We talk about) the education you’re gonna get. … Our recruits here, they really value that.”

Those kinds of relationships still matter even in the NIL age of collegiate sports. It will help keep the Wolverines relevant as they continue building up their collectives.