Jim Harbaugh gives take on NIL and recruiting: Michigan is a 'transformational,' not 'transactional' experience
Michigan Wolverines football is playing the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) game, but not in the way that some southern schools are. The Maize and Blue have eased into the new era in college athletics and, with athletes’ personal brands plus that of the university, have seen players make good money for themselves.
Of note, Michigan athletics partnered with INFLNCR to create the Victors Exchange, a student-athlete NIL business registry, custom-designed for businesses, donors, alumni and other interested NIL dollars wishing to connect specifically with student-athletes at the University of Michigan. The Wolverines also have Valiant Management, an outside firm created by former Michigan football player Jared Wangler, which is the leading sports marketing agency specializing in connecting University of Michigan athletes with fans and businesses.
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While the world of NIL the Wild West in some ways, with rumors of schools or their boosters promising recruits a certain amount of money to play there, Michigan is taking a bit of a different approach. Sure, conversations pertaining to NIL come up during the recruiting process, and the Wolverines are prepared to answer questions about the new and complicated topic, but it’s not a part of some grand pitch by head coach Jim Harbaugh and Co.
“We can’t be a part of it,” Harbaugh said on the ‘Bussin’ with the Boys’ podcast with Taylor Lewan and Will Compton. “We can’t have any fingerprints on it, which we don’t.
“I’ll give you my take on it, which is I think it’s a very good thing. I think players should be able to profit off of their name, image and likeness. But I don’t want to lose what Michigan is, and it’s a transformational experience, not a transactional experience.
“But with the NIL, it can become transactional. We’re not going to recruit players and be promising them money to come here. But, it’s been proven — you come here and you play well, then your jersey starts selling, you start getting these deals.
“We have players that are making — from what they’ve told me — in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
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Michigan third-year sophomore running back Blake Corum, who rushed for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, is one who’s profited greatly off his name, image and likeness, saying he’s made over $100,000 so far. According to On3, Corum’s NIL Valuation is $157,000 and ranks 55th among college football players.
“For me, NIL is good,” Corum said on the podcast. “I’m glad the NCAA passed this. It’s huge.”
“That transformational experience can become transactional, if you play good,” Harbaugh added. “I think that’s a good model. Would you ever want to be on a team where some guy’s just coming in and he’s getting money to come in and hasn’t done anything yet?”
NIL isn’t the only thing that’s changed in college sports recently. The rise of the transfer portal has also been prominent, creating a free agency of sorts. Harbaugh was one of the leading voices in support of the one-time transfer rule, where a player can move schools once without having to sit out a year.
Lewan and Compton asked the Michigan coach if he feels he has to recruit his own players all year long now considering they could enter the portal at any time, but Harbaugh said he doesn’t look at it that way.
“I try to be the, in terms of recruiting, be the kind of coach and the kind of place that under-promises and over-delivers,” Harbaugh said. “I try to deliver every day that they’re here to try to make it a transformational college experience for them.”
