Sherrone Moore pressed for comment on Dave Portnoy viral NIL comments

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy made headlines recently by saying that he’d be willing to contribute up to $3 million to help the Michigan Wolverines secure a quarterback in the NCAA transfer portal this offseason.

Head coach Sherrone Moore was asked on Monday to confirm whether or not he’s been in contact with Portnoy over the viral NIL comments.

“I’m not talking about that right now,” Moore responded.

Portnoy’s comments come amid Michigan’s continued struggles under center. The Wolverines have elected to start Jack Tuttle moving forward after experimenting with Davis Warren and Alex Orji at quarterback.

“Michigan, I will be your quarterback guy,” Dave Portnoy said. “I’ll talk to Sherrone [Moore], ‘Who do you guys want? Who’s in there?’ Give me a group. I’ll go sign them. $1 million. $2 million. Whatever it is…$3 million.”

If Portnoy is able to go through with that sort of NIL contribution, On3’s Pete Nakos said that whichever quarterback signs with the Wolverines is automatically rankings within the top 5 highest-ranked NIL valuations in the On3 NIL 100.

For reference, only two quarterbacks in college football this year — Colorado‘s Shedeur Sanders and Texas‘ Arch Manning — currently have valuations of more than $3 million. Longhorns starter Quinn Ewers sits just behind Manning with a valuation of $2.2 million. Meanwhile, Ohio State transfer quarterback Will Howard has a valuation of $1.3 million.

Other quarterbacks with large valuations include Alabama‘s Jalen Milroe ($2.2. million), Ole Miss‘ Jaxson Dart ($2.1 million), and Miami‘s Cam Ward ($1.9 million).

So if Portnoy is willing to fork over that type of cash — Michigan could have its pick of the litter within the transfer portal this offseason.

For now, however, the Wolverines still have a chance to put themselves back in the mix for the College Football Playoff race with a win against Illinois on Saturday. Matchups against Oregon, Indiana and of course, the Ohio State Buckeyes are also still to come this season.