'Do you want to be a champion?' Michigan has simple, effective transfer portal pitch

Michigan Wolverines football struck gold in the NCAA transfer portal last year, landing nine scholarship players that have combined to start 43 games and play 3,614 snaps.

Michigan plugged some holes on its roster — with two offensive line starters in center Drake Nugent and left tackle LaDarius Henderson, a starting tight end in AJ Barner, a starting cornerback in Josh Wallace, defensive role players in EDGE Josaiah Stewart and linebacker Ernest Hausmann, a premier place kicker in James Turner and backups in quarterback Jack Tuttle and offensive tackle Myles Hinton, who’s opened five contests. All nine are in the two-deep of the depth chart.

Meanwhile, joining the Wolverines has allowed each player to accomplish the two things that the group has expressed to be most important to them in a school — 1) win and 2) be developed.

Henderson, for example, said last year that the schools offering bags of cash up front were not the ones who were experiencing success. According to sources, Wallace, meanwhile, was offered a starting spot by Virginia Tech, but chose Michigan, won a starting job anyway and has been a key piece on the nation’s top-ranked defense.

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These moves to Michigan benefitted both sides, and they fit in seamlessly. The Wolverines don’t appear to be into making guarantees on playing time or money, and the guys they get don’t seem to have those things at the top of their list of priorities.

“It definitely wasn’t easy to leave a situation and come here, but just the way they’ve developed me as a player, on and off the field — in terms of technique and getting stronger in the weight room, the culture that we have and just being able to go up against my teammates every day in practice — has made me such a better player,” Barner, who’s caught 22 passes for 249 yards and a score this season, told MGoBlueTV.

“They didn’t treat me as a new guy or as an outsider,” Stewart noted. “Quickly, I was with my guys at my position group; they welcomed me quickly. I already knew some of them, so that was an easy transition. It was quick. They all loved me here and accepted me for who I am, which is good.”

“Everyone was super welcoming when we came in,” Hinton added. “All the transfers, when we came in, we got welcomed with open arms.”

“I knew that each and every day I wake up I wanted to be able to go somewhere where I love it, the people around me, that I would do everything I can for this team, this organization, this program,” Hausmann said. “I feel like Michigan was the place where I could do that.

“With Michigan being such a prestigious academic school, as well, now being a part of the Ross [School of] Business being my major, that was a big area for me that I wanted to look for in a school.”

Nugent said the reputation of the Michigan offensive line, offense and program as a whole was a major selling point for him. Henderson revealed that he loved how the Wolverines immediately told him where he could improve, instead of the typical lovey-dovey recruiting spiels he’s heard elsewhere.

‘Do you want to be a champion?’

Michigan is now looking for the next wave of talent in the transfer portal, and the Wolverines have just as much, if not more, to sell this time around. They’re No. 1 in the nation and back in the College Football Playoff. They also can point to nine success stories — and others in previous years, like center Olu Oluwatimi — when speaking with transfer recruits.

Barner spoke about the type of character it takes to transfer to Michigan and make an impact.

“If you’re looking for something that’s going to be easy and something that’s going to be given to you, then don’t come here,” he said. “But if you’re looking for some place that … if you’re a tough kid that wants to be great at football and wants to play at the next level and win a lot of football games, then this is the place for you.”

Michigan is 13-0 and Big Ten champions, and most of the transfers that came in ahead of this season had losing records the year before at their previous school. Coming to Ann Arbor has been quite the difference in that regard.

“If you want to win big games, on the biggest stages of them all, and if you have high hopes and high goals, this is the place to do it and achieve it,” Stewart said.

“Just to experience this has been worth it and life-changing,” Henderson remarked. “I would say, ‘Do you want to be a champion?’ And I’d leave it there.”