Michigan Accused of Hiding NIL Funds as $12M Bryce Underwood Move Puts Sherrone Moore’s Side Under Scrutiny
What is it like earning paychecks worth 7 – or even 8-figures when you’re barely 20 years old? Those are the numbers some elite college football players are making these days, as NIL deals continue to change the face of college football. It’s become such a prominent aspect of the inner workings of the sport because of those flashy numbers. Arch Manning is being paid $6 million, Carson Beck is getting $4 million, and the list goes on. This off-season, the most protracted player saga saw Bryce Underwood flip his commitment from LSU to sign with Sherrone Moore’s Wolverines following a reported $12.5 million NIL deal over four years. Backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Michigan was able to secure the 5-star quarterback as the program made a statement of intent.
The offseason for Michigan has been shaped by Moore embracing the NIL culture. Apart from Underwood, top-tier signees like five-star offensive tackle Andrew Babalola, and top-100 prospects Ty Haywood, Nate Marshall, and Shamari Earls have all landed in Ann Arbor on the back of lucrative NIL deals. In fact, Babalola holds the third-highest NIL valuation on Michigan’s roster, with $711k. So, given their lavish outlay, you would expect Sherrone Moore and Co. to feature among the elite group of programs as far as NIL collectives go. But it appears that’s not the case.
Crain & Company discussed the top 10 richest NIL collectives on May 2, which surprisingly – and suspiciously – misses Michigan. Topping the list is 1870 Society & The Foundation, which supports Ohio State. Their top prospect is obviously Jeremiah Smith, who is getting a yearly payout of $4 million at the moment. But Michigan was nowhere to be found despite having spent $12 million on Bryce Underwood alone. Their absence led the hosts to raise their suspicions.
“Michigan spent what, 12 million on just one quarterback, and they can’t crack into the top 10? That’s why I’m not buying any of this. It’s all gonna reshuffle before the fall camp starts,” said David Cone. He also joked, “Portnoy is probably going to get on the phone and say, ‘Look, we gotta pump these numbers up.’” David Portnoy, owner of Barstool Sports, is a member of the collective that funds Michigan.
Moreover, Cone believes Michigan is not giving away any details on how much funding they have received and are trying not to get much attention to that aspect of their recruitment. The workings of NIL rights and compensation are still not fully known to the public. NIL collectives, which run the show, have various ways of sourcing funds. They’re set up with the agenda of providing ‘opportunities’ for college athletes.
During the conversation, Jake Crain pointed out that if Michigan gave Underwood “that amount of money, you have got more money.” Bryce Underwood’s much-talked-about recruitment campaign is a textbook example of NIL-influenced ones. He was getting 1.5 million at LSU yearly. And then, Michigan drops a mic-drop package of $12 million, and Underwood happily jumped ship from LSU. His campaign, which featured the presence of the shunned-upon Connor Stalions, was funded by the Champions Collective.
Cone added, “I just think they’re doing a good job of, ‘Hey, just going about our business, chopping wood, don’t put us on any top 10 list, just going about our business.” This prompted Jake Crain to throw some shade at Michigan, saying, “If anybody can hide something, it’s Michigan.”
This could be a reference to Michigan’s infamous sign-stealing scandal as well as the program’s alleged recruiting violation. Meanwhile, Michigan’s recruitment of Underwood was powered by billionaire Larry Ellison, who has a net worth of a whopping $230 billion, and his wife, Jolin. Michigan is Jolin’s alma mater, and she’s extremely “passionate” about the school’s athletics.
Meanwhile, another key force behind Michigan’s changed outlook on NIL is Sherrone Moore.
The Sherrone Moore era is changing the mindset about NILs at Michigan
HC Sherrone Moore, unlike Nick Saban, doesn’t seem to hold too much against NILs. “It’s part of football now, it’s part of college football,” he told the press last year. Moore also seconded his support for former HC Jim Harbaugh’s ‘transformational over transactional’ motto. But, he has opened the gates wider for the latter part of it, given how NILs have become the norm in college football.
One of Champion Circle’s top campaigns, ‘Those Who Stay,’ was directed at retaining the program’s elite players. That’s why guys like Mason Graham and Will Johnson chose to stay at Ann Arbor when they were planning to enter the transfer portal last spring. Former players were also appreciative about the uptick in the NIL efforts pursued by the front office. “It was like one year we weren’t getting paid and one year we were all getting paid a good amount,” former TE Colson Loveland said at the combine. “I think it’s just a blessing how NIL works,” he added. Graham, too, noted the change. “I feel like they really stepped it up. They saw the other schools really excelling more than they would like to, but I feel like they kind of stepped it up in these recent years.”
[It] isn’t just always financial, it’s putting guys in position, whether it’s internships or different things, to make sure you can have a goal that you want to do, and football is not here forever. What can we do to help you to accomplish that goal? So that supports a big piece of it, too,” Moore said. He’s one of the few coaches who seems to have changed their mindsets about how NIL controls college football now.
Michigan is valued as the 6 richest program in college football, and is valued at 16.3 million, according to NCAA estimates. Michigan has money, even if Moore tries to be modest about it. If the program can afford the recruiting class’s best player at 12 million, there’s much more where that comes from.
