Why It Might Be Good for Michigan Football Not to Land Bryce Underwood
By Cullen Corr
Through the despair of a 5-5 season, there's been a shinning light of hope for Michigan football fans the past few weeks coming in the form of Bryce Underwood. The consensus No.1 recruit in the country, who plays high school football just 15 minutes down the road from Michigan Stadium, has been commited to LSU since January. Michigan had been in the mix up until his commitment but wasn't able to seal the deal.
With the struggle on the field the Wolverines have grown more desperate to land elite talent. That has resulted in Michigan football putting together a nearly $10.5 million NIL package to try and land Underwood. Suddenly, Michigan is back in the thick of this recruitment. But is landing Underwood really what's best for Michigan football going forward?
Michigan's Approach
Jim Harbaugh built this program up without the same recruiting success that the other perennial powerhouses of the sport have had. Harbaugh really valued 3-star and 4-star recruits- guys who were underrated and felt they had something to prove. These kinds of players had faced adversity and knew how to overcome it. It was players like this -- mixed in with elite talent at the right positions (J.J. McCarthy) -- that built the culture and ultimately success of this team.
The approach was termed "transformational not transactional" by Harbaugh. I think that there was always room to improve their recruiting under Harbaugh. There were still targets every year whom Michigan football identified as culture fits that they weren't able to land. On top of that Michigan has always had the potential to be a heavy player in the NIL era of recruiting by having one of the largest and wealthiest alumni bases of any FBS program.
Now under Sherrone Moore, as desperation and disappointment have grown, boosters have come forward willing to pony up large sums in exchange for top talent. Additionally, there is pressure on athletic director Warde Manuel to keep the program successful by any means necessary following criticism of how he handled Jim Harbaugh's contract extension this past year, ultimately letting him leave to the NFL. A growing mix of circumstances has led to Michigan jumping all in on the new NIL era of recruiting.