OwenGoBlue

July 8th, 2022 at 1:38 PM ^

That argument is absolute nonsense. All pro sports leagues work just fine with signing bonuses, guaranteed money, and guys making different amounts.

It’s not like Michigan is avoiding any of the hypothetical locker room issues either. The Michigan QB who hasn’t started a game yet probably makes more than anyone else on the team!

Billy Ray Valentine

July 8th, 2022 at 3:55 PM ^

This rationale doesn't work for me at all. Pro sports have drafts. High picks get signing bonuses, as they should. No current pro league pays new players on average more than established stars. Earning a high draft position still means something. CFB has no draft. The NFL used to have a model in which unproven draft picks received GIGANTIC signing bonuses (see chapter entitled "Sam Bradford"). Both the NFLPA and the NFL rejected this structure for a variety of reasons. There's zero clamor to return to the old model. Why anyone thinks it'll work in CFB is beyond me.

NIL is new. We're arguably screwing it up in Year 1. Time will tell. I'll be accountable if I'm wrong. But if the new order is paying highly ranked high school recruits absurd sums before they play a down, deal me out. I'm not anti-player. I fully support paying players that actually produce(d) ridiculous sums because their NIL will earn ridiculous sums. To not pay them would be exploitative. The SCOTUS agrees. 

I'm not against P2P on moral grounds. It ain't my money. I want these kids to become super-rich. They play a grueling sport for my entertainment/school pride that will shorten their lifespans. I'm against P2P because I don't think it'll work. 

OwenGoBlue

July 8th, 2022 at 8:41 PM ^

There are drafted players who make much more than many veterans just as highly recruited HS players will make more than many veterans. The NFL worked fine when the rookies made top $$, they changed it because the NFLPA represents guys already in the league (thus giving them a larger share of the cap) and the teams liked the structure more, not because of any locker room issues.

In the pros the newcomers are literally there to take jobs away from veterans (not just depth chart spots) and locker rooms don’t fall apart over it  

It’s simply a matter of guaranteed money. Others are offering it, Michigan is not. If you’re the only one not offering guarantees, particularly in a sport where guys fairly regularly medically retire in college, you’re anti-player compared to the others. 

UMForLife

July 8th, 2022 at 1:43 PM ^

Mind you. I did not neg you here. But, NIL came in too quickly and we are not ready to play the game in the current environment. Harbaugh is old school. He is not going to get someone at all cost. If it was the case, we would have been loaded before NIL. Nothing has changed in his mind. I am not agreeing with him, but I can see his old school point of view.

Navy1972

July 9th, 2022 at 12:47 PM ^

Or maybe Jim Harbaugh feels that senior-to-be Dante Moore hasn't earned a huge NIL payday, and doesn't want to deal with interference from some wealthy benefactor ala Phil Knight. Would you? Do you want to deal with the locker room when a true freshman arrives making more NIL than Cade and JJ combined? Surprise, surprise, Harbaugh doesn't...

schreibee

July 8th, 2022 at 12:56 PM ^

There was a puff piece on Dante in i think it was The Athletic a week or so ago, the crux of which is "if you think you know what Dante Moore is going to do, you don't know Dante!"

In it he scoffed at all the crootin analysts & just plain folks who thought they knew his mind. 

So, apparently not all that inscrutable! He did exactly what all those people said he was gonna do!

No one can say today what the ramifications of having consecutive 5⭐-ish QBs from the area, both with long time ties to Michigan, choose to go elsewhere - but the immediate perception is not so good!

907_UM Nanook

July 8th, 2022 at 2:23 PM ^

The timing of that Athletic article, and I think Dante's last visit to Oregon was about the same time as the big news story blowing up on the NIL deal for that QB recruit that signed with Miami (YTM). And I read into Dante's quotes as him not really wanting the backlash that comes with signing an NIL deal. I honestly believe he's a great kid, would have loved to have him as QB, and have no problem with what he chose to do - as I'm sure it was the best decision for he & his family. In fact it was the SMARTEST choice to make - so we are in fact missing out on the "best & brightest" by playing the game this way.

In the most recent MGoBlog Roundtable, it was consensus that the University is ham-stringing the football staff from not NIL, but the PFP (pay for play) recruiting practice that MOST other universities are doing right now. And heavy-heeled alums are very frustrated, and there was talk of some going "rogue" I think the term was. And then they all walked that back, because it's NOT ROGUE TO DO PFP!!! These are the new unwritten rules that the University is not allowing the staff/alums to play by, and it is keeping us from signing uber-talented 5 stars - it absolutely is.

And so I digress and retreat to my dayjob, as there's literally nothing worth stressing about because I alone can't change any of this. But if we do hear of a booster-group that's setting up PFP for UM, count me in.

griff32

July 10th, 2022 at 9:46 AM ^

Navy,

I don't know if you have dinner or something with Coach Harbaugh so you know his thoughts, but by the way he coached on the sidelines last year, I think he has the competitive fire to win. I don't think that he would not want to use all the tools available to him. I think if it becomes a tool granted to him by the AD he will use it. 

Catchafire

July 8th, 2022 at 12:57 PM ^

Losing 2 5 star QBs with ties to Michigan is pain.  Lloyd's grand son and another QB mentored by Devin Gardner.  I wish both of these QBs the best but I wish nothing but failure for ND and Oregon.

schreibee

July 8th, 2022 at 1:42 PM ^

Navy, the "why" is obviously because everyone else is doing it - I mean, why should they be paid millions upon millions to play a game at any level?

The answer is because that's what it costs! 

Michigan is essentially deciding to be like the Oakland A's in this situation. They're just not gonna play that game, even if everyone else is! 

The A's are frequently competitive, occasionally interesting - but in the end they're like Michigan playing Georgia when they face a big $ team in the playoffs. 🤷‍♂️

UMForLife

July 8th, 2022 at 1:46 PM ^

Well, why not? I am all for legal way to make money. Why shouldn't a kid make millions of dollars? Is there a law against it? Please explain your stance. Don't give me a moral stance because that is BS. If my son is a genius and Google wants to hire him for million dollars when he is 16, I am not saying NO. 

schreibee

July 8th, 2022 at 6:26 PM ^

Yes, there is actually a law against it in the state of Michigan. Every state sets its own rules regarding NIL, Michigan's is apparently more restrictive than many/most others. 

Also, there is virtually 0 guidance from the ncaa about NIL at this time, as they realize they really have no power to enforce their rules - but they do in fact have a rule against paying for attendance, rather than actual NIL. 

So yeah, there are laws & rules Michigan's choosing to abide by that virtually no other schools are - not even, apparently, other schools in the state of Michigan! 

DMill2782

July 8th, 2022 at 2:00 PM ^

Listen to the WTKA roundtable. Seth nails why they should with a sledgehammer. 5-Star, even high 4-Star recruits, have value before they step on campus. They have put in a ton of work dedicating their lives to football. They are the most physically and technically ready to play. They come on campus ready for you to start installing your system instead of refining technique and worrying a ton about strength and conditioning. They start ahead of your typical recruit and can get their talent on the field earlier. 

DetroitDan

July 8th, 2022 at 9:45 PM ^

Michigan has a great football history, and 5 stars have had little to do with that.  Tom Brady, Braylon Edwards, Aidan Hutchinson -- These were not 5 stars.

Dax Hill, Chad Henne, Jabrill Peppers, Rashan Gary, and Drew Henson were good, but most left early and a couple did not even play in bowl games.  Better to get the Ronnie Bells and Hassan Haskins and let them compete.

Same in basketball (but moreso) where Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate were not as good as Devante Jones and Eli Brooks in the one year that these 5 stars played.  I will admit that Terry Mills and company eventually panned out from the Frieder / Fisher era.

 

blueballsohard

July 12th, 2022 at 2:14 AM ^

That's part of the folly. It's NOT your money!  LOL!!   It doesn't come out of your taxes, your pension, your prescriptions won't be any higher and it doesn't affect you in any perceptible way. And there is no salary cap. So why do you care so much?!

Navy1972

July 9th, 2022 at 6:02 PM ^

Harbaugh gave his roughly $2,000,0000 bonus money back to Athletic Department employees. Putting his money where his mouth is. A lot of you have forgotten that. Offering Dante Moore a milly or so per year and family members jobs at Nike amounts to less than pocket change for Phil Knight.