Wolverine Digest

Michigan football general manager Sean Magee has transformed the Wolverines into a recruiting juggernaut

The Michigan football team has gone from an afterthought for most elite targets to a perennial and lethal threat on the recruiting trail

Jerred Johnson

Michigan Wolverine football General Manager Sean Magee
Michigan Wolverine football General Manager Sean Magee / Michigan Football

When Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) burst upon the college football scene 4+ years ago the Michigan football program was slow and hesitant to react. Under the tutelage and iron fist of Jim Harbaugh the program went with a mentality that those who wanted to come to Ann Arbor would come of their own volition. Harbaugh believed that the Michigan brand could transcend dollars and kids would want to come to Michigan based on the lore and history of the Block M. All of that sounds nice and you certainly want kids to come because they want to be in your program, but dollars, bags and bags of dollars, can overcome nostalgia any day. Michigan used NIL in the early years to pay their current players and keep their roster intact. That plan worked well and landed the maize and blue three straight Big Ten championships and a National Championship as well. But during that run the Wolverines were swinging and missing on the recruiting trail in a consistent failing fashion.

After Harbaugh departed and new coach Sherrone Moore took the reins the program inserted Sean Magee as the GM of the football team. Magee is an analytical thinker with a military background as a Naval officer. He quickly realized that NIL was going nowhere, and the Wolverines had to embrace the change or sink into mediocrity. He used considerable alumni connections to build a war chest that is unmatched in college football. Leveraging those connections the Wolverines signed the number one rated player in the 2025 class in Bryce Underwood, as well as two top 20 offensive linemen in Andrew Babalola and Ty Haywood. Magee's approach has revolutionized recruiting in Ann Arbor and given Coach Moore and his staff the ability to pursue any prospect they want and have a legitimate chance of securing their services.

Bryce
Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore, left, and quarterback signee Bryce Underwood take selfies with fans at halftime of the basketball game between Michigan and Iowa at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images


All of these things are possible due to the hiring of Sean Magee and his vision for the future of the program. A program he proclaims to be a "unicorn" program. That moniker is due to the fact that Michigan can offer elite level athletic experiences, Ivy League level educational experiences, and access to an alumni base that is among the largest and most well connected in the world. The future looks bright in Ann Arbor, tip of the cap to Mr. Sean Magee.

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Jerred Johnson
JERRED JOHNSON

Jerred Johnson has served in the United States military for over 23 years. He has a Bachelors in Marketing, a Masters in Management and is in the final phases of completing his Doctorate in Business Administration.

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