Michigan football players are raking in NIL money

Michigan football gets criticized for its lack of NIL in the recruiting process, but Wolverines players are making bank thanks to NIL opportunities. 

NIL has changed the game in college athletics. There’s no question about that, but what it means going forward and what’s the right way to implement NIL — that’s far from settled.

What’s not debatable is that Michigan football has been doing things differently, at least from a lot of other major programs.

The Wolverines and head coach Jim Harbaugh have basically said they aren’t going to do “pay for play” which is what NIL has turned into. Just look at the SEC school offering Taulia Tagovailoa $1.5 million to enter the transfer portal. 

Michigan football’s refusal to do NIL in that way, which is against NCAA rules (not that the organization will enforce them) has hurt on the recruiting trail.

Despite back-to-back playoff appearances and Big Ten championships, Michigan football finished outside the top 10 in the 2023 recruiting rankings and is probably going to do the same in 2024, especially if a pair of four-star twins flip their commitment to Kentucky.

Michigan is doing NIL the right way and players are benefiting

Short term, NIL has hurt Michigan. However, Wolverine players are raking in NIL dollars and soon enough, you get the sense that the tide will turn in NIL, eventually.

We all know about J.J. McCarthy and Blake Corum. But in an article on NIL posted by Sports Illustrated on Wednesday, it was revealed that offensive guard Trevor Keegan is expecting to make between $225K and $500K this season in NIL deals.

That shows the power of Michigan football’s NIL and while it’s not guaranteed to any player up front, the best Wolverines players reap the rewards. Here’s an excerpt of the article from SI.

"“Keegan was the 184th-ranked recruit in the country. He plays left guard. He is nobody’s marketing dream and he knows it: ‘I’m not much of a poster on social media, and there’s been a lot of companies that reached out and asked me to post a lot. It’d be like making Reels and stuff, being creative, making TikToks. And that’s just not who I am. I’m not good at that kind of stuff. I think it’s kind of cringey, too.’ Yet Keegan expects to make ‘anywhere from $225 [thousand] to half a million’ in NIL money this year. The system that enriches Blake Corum is taking care of Trevor Keegan, too.”"

Corum talked about how you have to work for NIL at Michigan: “Nothing is handed out. You have to work for it.” Corum said. 

The article also talked about players who were promised certain amounts of NIL money (at other schools) as recruits and then things weren’t exactly as promised, which big shock. If you are doing something against the rules, don’t be shocked when the rule breakers haven’t told you the truth.

Hopefully, things like this will help turn the tide. Michigan football has it easier than basketball for instance, where the top players, such as Hunter Dickinson, tend only go places that guarantee top dollar.

It’s like that for some of the best high school recruits too. There is hope for Michigan football than NIL won’t be a factor for Bryce Underwood. It wasn’t for Jadyn Davis, but then again, we have seen with J.J. McCarthy that Michigan players can rake in NIL. They can also do it legally.

Cheaters are going to cheat. At least Michigan knows it does things the right way, regardless of what the NCAA says and at some point, you have to hope recruits will respond.