The Michigan Wolverines are attempting to be, potentially, the biggest spenders in the history of college football recruiting. It's not going as well as they might have hoped.
As the Wolverines stare a mediocre season in the face just a year after they won the national championship, Michigan reportedly stepping up its recruitment efforts for Bryce Underwood, the top quarterback prospect for the 2025 class.
Underwood, a 5-star LSU commitment, has been tied to Michigan for a little more than the last month as the Wolverines have attempted to pluck him from the Tigers. Now, Michigan is set to step its game up even further.
Michigan is rumored to be preparing a substantial NIL deal valued at $10.5 million to secure his commitment. This deal, first reported by 247Sports, would be paid out over four years and will likely increase the market value for quarterbacks of Underwood's caliber moving forward to astronomical levels.
However, social media warriors were quick to jump all over the Wolverines after the report came out and Bryce Underwood responded on Instagram. Though it's vague, he shared a photo of himself in LSU gear, making many believe he is sticking firm to his commitment.
Imagine being such an undesirable team for QBs that kids decline $10M to play for you 💀
— CFB Tracker (@MatchupTracker) November 14, 2024
Some fans even labeled Michigan a "poverty program" for be willing to spend $10 million on a high school quarterback, just to have it potentially blown up in their face.
10 million and he’s in state and he still don’t wanna go there that’s how u know ur poverty 😭😭
— Kawhi Muse (@kawhimusee) November 14, 2024
Nobody wants to play for a 5-5 team that doesn’t throw the ball
— The Buckeye Show 🌰 (@TheBuckGuys) November 14, 2024
If he rejects their offer they might as well get ready for full on rebuild and Sherrone will be outta there after next szn
— Kakashi (@Shadboogie55) November 14, 2024
When they stopped cheating.....they stopped winning! Simple as that!
— Selfless_Gaming (@Selfless_Gaming) November 14, 2024
Some Michigan fans responded saying that these were just photos from Underwood's recent visit to LSU, where he saw the Tigers get blown out in Death Valley to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
However, there's no doubt that it's a little embarrassing for Michigan fans to see a report that they're willing to pay $10 million for a high school quarterback, just to have him post a photo in LSU attire a couple of hours later.
The dynamics of this entire recruitment are fascinating to say the least. Underwood's offer is well more than what many stars in college football are making today, and he's never played a down of college football.
The 5-star quarterback absolutely looks the part and there is reason to believe that he'll be a good one wherever he ends up, but only time will tell if that $10 million tag would be a wise decision on Michigan or LSU's part.
Even if Michigan lands Underwood, the Wolverines will need to address other positions in the Transfer Portal this offseason. Though Michigan has a solid defense, the Wolverines lack explosiveness on offense and they are more than a quarterback away from fixing those issues.
It will be interesting to see how all this plays out and if Underwood's recruitment ends up leading him to Ann Arbor. Right now, though, it seems that he's locked into LSU.