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Michigan football: Regent Jordan Acker on NIL, implications

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•07/05/22•

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Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and his staff continue to find ways to navigate the recruiting trail. David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire

Michigan wants to be a leader when it comes to Name, Image & Likeness (NIL), but it could take some time. Regent Jordan Acker further explained his interpretation of the University’s stance recently, noting U-M is essentially playing the long game.

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“First, let’s lay out what’s happening,” he said via twitter. “There’s two restrictions that some schools have to live under: first Title IX, which (I’m being basic here) requires equal funding for men’s and women’s NIL. Meaning, hire an NIL coordinator for both — they(‘d) better be doing both genders. The second is using it as a recruiting device. This ties into the first, but let’s be clear — it’s against NCAA rules, some state laws, but neither have proven to be enforceable in any way.”

The first one is resolvable, he added, “and with the right guidance, any school should handle well.” The second and more difficult issue, he noted, is using NIL collectives to recruit kids straight out of high school.

“You see two things — first, schools that have been in this world for a long time transitioning well, some schools continuing to watch and see, and others invent them out of whole cloth,” he wrote. “Just my prediction here: using NIL as a recruiting incentive will be nearly impossible for most schools to keep up. Why? Worst ROI [return on investment] of any NIL scheme, by far.

“I do think they are going to make some schools very successful in the NIL business, in the short term. However, eventually donors tire of giving money ‘for nothing’ and we will see the pot of NIL money isn’t unlimited. The biggest bang for the buck is and will be rising stars and developed talent. There’s no such thing as a sure thing in football or any other NCAA sport.”

The furthest thing from a sure thing, he noted, is a high school kid (in the aggregate). At the same time, some programs have been paying for top talent under the table for years. Regardless, Acker believes the schools that will be the most successful with NIL in the long term are the ones who successfully build collectives that “fund rising stars and above.

“Eventually, student athletes and prospects will see the same,” he said. “Will some NIL collectives be very successful and throw lots of money at high school athletes? Yes. But their hit rate will be lower, and they will waste a ton of money on guys that wash out.”

That remains to be seen. But it seems clear Michigan will be going about its business differently from others for the foreseeable future.

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