Michigan's Sherrone Moore all in on NIL: 'It's part of the game'

Throughout his final year at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh repeatedly supported the idea of revenue sharing.

At the 2023 Big Ten Media Days, he pushed for college sports leaders to give NIL time to develop and mature. At one point in the 2023 season, he said he would take less money for his players to have a share. And when his team won the Big Ten title, sealing its No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Harbaugh urged credit should go to players and they should collect a share of the revenue they produce.

“As you make those comments, I want you to remember – it’s the players,” Harbaugh said in December on national television. “Don’t forget to give them a share of the revenue.”

More than six months later, revenue sharing is now a common part of the current conversation in college football. With the House v. NCAA settlement filed Friday, the 10-year agreement will introduce athlete revenue sharing once certified. Major Power 4 athletic departments have spent the summer figuring out how revenue will be dispersed, with as much as $14 to $17 million possibly being shared with football rosters.

Last week’s Big Ten Media Days were the first for new Michigan coach Sherrone Moore. And while he did not call for any new bold changes to college athletes, he said the Wolverines plan to embrace revenue sharing just like their old head coach.

“We’re all about supporting our players in every single way,” he said. “Our administration is aligned and ready to do that and figure out the best way to allocate all those funds to our student-athletes. We’re all in for it and know coach [Harbaugh] wanted it. We’re hands-on in doing it.”

Sherrone Moore embracing NIL

Since Harbaugh’s departure to the NFL, Michigan has ramped up its NIL operations. Champions Circle emerged as the premier NIL collective in the Ann Arbor market, running the major campaigns that have been key in bringing back NFL talent the last two seasons. The organization is an official partner with Learfield, too.

NIL collectives have become crucial for top programs, helping win recruiting battles and retain top talent. The top spending donor-driven groups are pushing annual budgets of $13 to $20 million.

Champions Circle is run by Valiant Management Group, the go-to sports marketing firm for Michigan athletes. Co-founder Jared Wangler repeatedly said the collective would not participate in the shopping recruits.

Harbaugh launched the “M Power” program last summer, focused on assisting athletes in NIL. The campaign also has a form where businesses and supporters can reach out, providing contact info with the option to get in touch about making a financial contribution. Harbaugh took trips to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., to meet with donors about NIL last summer.

With Moore now at the helm, he’s fundraised for NIL dollars and embraced the need for a high-functioning collective. The Wolverines held on to key players this offseason, in part to Champions Circle. That has sent the message Michigan can compete with the top spending in the NIL space.

“It’s been huge,” Sherrone Moore said of Michigan’s NIL collective. “They’ve done an outstanding job. They’ve just realized what we have to do. It’s part of the game, you have to have a plan. We continue to be aligned as an administration and collective to get there.”