Wolverine Digest

Michigan's embrace of NIL is leading to big results on recruiting trail

Chris Breiler|
Michigan Stadium under the lights
Michigan Stadium under the lights | Christopher Breiler

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The Michigan Wolverines are being labeled as the "biggest winner" on the recruiting trail for the 2025 class, as Sherrone Moore and his staff have secured the No. 6 overall class in the country. That class is headlined by four 5-star prospects, including Bryce Underwood (QB), Andrew Babalola (OL), Ty Haywood (OL), and Nate Marshall (EDGE). And while there are certainly plenty of perks that come with playing college football at the University of Michigan, there's no question that NIL has helped Moore assemble one of the top classes in the country.

Former head football coach Jim Harbaugh seemed resistant to the idea of using NIL promises to lure in elite talent from the recruiting trail, pushing a "transformation over transactional" approach. And while it's hard to question that approach after Harbaugh helped lead the Wolverines to a national championship in 2023, the reality is that an aggressive NIL approach is now required for any college football program that hopes to remain competitive moving forward.

The good news for Michigan fans is that, with Moore now leading the way, it appears that the football program is now fully embracing the new world of NIL - and it's leading to big time results.

According to Steve Wiltfong of On3, the newfound embrace of NIL began as a result of Michigan struggling at the QB position for much of the 2024 season. Those struggles led to an all-out effort from Michigan to go after the No. 1 QB in the 2025 class, a kid who was already in their back yard.

“The rumors started in the fall,”Wiltfong said. “And it really started picking up for Michigan after another poor showing against Illinois, a tough loss. Sherrone Moore hired Sean Magee to come in and be his general manager. And the Wolverines, as the season continued, really started to change the way they were going to recruit and attack NIL to be a major player. Obviously, there were also some people outside of the program that greatly impacted Bryce Underwood and his decision to flip. And then some heavy hitters, some billionaires coming in, and showing Bryce Underwood the type of earnings he could have if he stayed home and played quarterback at the University of Michigan.”

Now that Michigan's NIL efforts are starting to pay off in a major way, it stands to reason that we'll see the Wolverines continue that effort moving forward. And with no shortage of wealthy donors and billionaires willing to chip in for elite talent, Michigan is going to be incredibly hard to beat on the recruiting trail for years to come.

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Chris Breiler
CHRIS BREILER

Christopher Breiler launched Winged Helmet Media and began covering the Michigan Football program in an unofficial capacity in 2017. He then joined Wolverine Digest as part of the FanNation network in 2021 as a contributing writer, where he served as both a writer and a photographer on game days. In 2024, he took over as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI. His love for Michigan Football brought him into the industry, and his passion for being a content creator has led to some amazing experiences along the way.

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