Michigan football keeps making progress on the NIL front
Remember the days when NIL seemed like it was a constant topic of conversation surrounding Michigan football recruiting?
Fans were frustrated by the Wolverines approach to NIL because it seemed to be holding things back on the recruiting trail. There was probably some truth to that. You aren't going to land most five-star prospects without a significant NIL package and Michigan football did land just one top-100 commitment in two classes.
That's not normal for the Wolverines. But in 2025, they have four top-100 commitments already. They have 16 pledges total and 11 of them are four-star recruits. That blue-chip percentage is similar to what it was last year, but U-M is starting to win more high-profile recruitments and it seems that better NIL offerings are part of that.
Michigan football did a great job of retaining its roster during the offseason. There were two separate transfer portal windows and an extra 30-day window after Jim Harbaugh took the job with the Chargers.
Sherrone Moore played a big role in the player retention but so did the Champions Circle. Chris Balas of The Wolverine reports that Michigan has around $12 million invested in its roster. He also said Michigan essentially has a base salary for all scholarship players which is huge.
That's something I have wanted all along. It's something you can give to players with the chance to earn a lot more like J.J. McCarthy, Donovan Edwards, Will Johnson, and others. That's how NIL is supposed to work but in this new era, there's essentially going to be base salaries for everyone.
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It might not be the wild, wild west anymore, but it's good to see Michigan catching up in the arms race.