Michigan Wolverines news: An 'unprecedented' NIL deal, Will Johnson injury update, more

Michigan football has been making a strong push to land five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood and a huge chunk of NIL money has been a big driving factor behind it.

There have been rumors floating around that the Michigan Wolverines have offered Underwood as much as $10 millon to flip his commitment from the Tigers to Michigan football.

Underwood just visited Baton Rouge over the weekend. The feeling on the LSU side of things is that he will stick with the Tigers, but that's what you'd expect the LSU people to say.

The new NIL partnership announced with Passes is about luring Bryce Underwood, but also setting up the Michigan Wolverines to be "a leader" in the NIL space according to a news release put out by Passes the company Michigan is partnering with. Here are more details:

"All Michigan student-athletes are uniquely positioned to benefit from Passes, which currently features several On3 top 10 athletes earning 6-7 figures on the platform,” the release said.
“From exclusive merchandise and signed memorabilia to post and pre-game live streams, Passes’ versatility allows for total customization to best reach the unique interests of diverse audiences. 

“For example, fans and donors can subscribe to the Team 146 Tier. Proceeds from this tier will be directed towards ensuring that the football team, through recruiting, retention, and portal transfers, will remain in contention for national championships year after year. The goal of the Team 146 Tier is to demonstrate that individual donors of any size can have a meaningful impact on Michigan’s ability to be successful in today’s dynamic college landscape.”

All I know is that more NIL money for athletes is a good thing for the Michigan Wolverines. And maybe it will lead to Bryce Underwood flipping his commitment, but even if it doesn't, this is still a huge positive.

Another Connor Stalions twist

One of the most interesting aspects of the Connor Stalions scandal was his presence on the sideline for Central Michigan against Michigan State last season if that was indeed him.

I have said all along that the Central Michigan staff had to know. They had to and they had to be involved in getting him a sideline pass. How would Stalions have been able to wear the correct coaching uniform without some assistance? And come on, it's not that easy to get on a college football sideline.

Now, it's being reported by Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports that Jim McElwain, the Central Michigan head coach, is under NCAA investigation related to the incident, which would be a "major violation."

It's what I thought all along but it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Will Johnson injury update

It's been a struggle for Michigan football star Will Johnson who has been battling an injury since the USC game. Johnson has been questionable the past two weeks but hasn't played.

Some Michigan football fans have gotten frustrated -- and to be clear -- they are a weird vocal minority because Johnson is a legend and shouldn't be questioned.

However, Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore reiterated again on Monday that the Wolverines star cornerback does want to play.

“He’s working towards it,” Moore said on the ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio show. “He’s gonna try … he wants to play. He got running a little bit this week, so we’ll see how it feels as we go into next week.”