There are a lot of encouraging things to take away from the Michigan football recruitment of Bryce Underwood or at least the renewed push.
The Wolverines had to make a run at the No. 1 overall quarterback. He's from Belleville, Michigan and he's a program-changing kind of player. NIL seemed to eliminate the Wolverines before because they were focused on being "transformational" instead of "transactional."
Well, in the new world of college football, you have to find a way to do both, especially now that Jim Harbaugh isn't around anymore.
The most encouraging thing to me about the Underwood recruitment is that the Wolverines will put themselves in a position to land top talent again. We have seen Michigan football miss on recruits over and over again over the past few years -- recruitments they would normally win due to NIL.
Michigan football changing its NIL approach is a good thing
You can throw Underwood in there, as well as Dante Moore as two recruitments that could have played out much differently had this approach been adopted earlier. According to a new report from Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider, the Wolverines won't be out-bid when it comes to Underwood and NIL this time around.
You'll have to subscribe for all the details, but essentially, Webb is saying that NIL won't be the reason Michigan football misses out on Underwood. It's also not going to be enough to sway him either.
LSU was able to win the recruitment in part because of Jayden Daniels and the offense that the Tigers are running. To be honest, it looks much more quarterback-friendly. Of course, Sherrone Moore will convince Underwood that the Wolverines will throw the ball more with him, but that's going to be a hurdle the Wolverines will have to get over, especially because truth be told they didn't throw that much with J.J. McCarthy even though he was surrounded by NFL receivers and tight ends. He was still a top-10 pick but you can see why LSU's offense might be more appealing.
Michigan did win a national title though, so there's that.
Two things that should help are the commitment of Andrew Babalola, a five-star offensive tackle in the 2025 class, who just pledged this month to Michigan football. Plus, Andrew Marsh, a top-100 wide receiver who feels ready to play right away. Marsh even made it to Underwood's game last Friday as part of a visit to Ann Arbor for the Michigan State game.
It feels like there is a better chance that Underwood sticks with LSU. That's just my read on the situation, which would change but at least Michigan football is shooting its shot. Maybe it won't be enough this time, but it's a positive sign for the future either way.