Domani Jackson commits to Bama

They'll chew him up and spit him out. He's been underwhelming

Meh, I didn't really expect a guy who went to USC would decide to come to UM.  I'm sure he'll be better at Alabama because they actually teach you how to defend but UM will survive.  

Not gonna lie, this is getting frustrating. He probably would’ve started for us next year opposite Will Johnson but still somehow he’d rather take the NIL

Pour it on those fuckers

What's  Domani's problem ?  Kidding somewhat but I thought he regretted not going to Michigan. Beat Bama !

Different player, same story.  Always the bridesmaid.  

Well fuck, that's disheartening. 

Beat Bama!

He was not good, on a bad defense. Would have been nice to have the chance to develop him. Oh well, will just have to go back to focusing on a possible national championship…

How does that saying go - Always the bridesmaid and never the bride? If there was a school that could claim the most 2nd place finishes in recruiting battles, Michigan would be the clear winner.

Although not quite as high on him as others (though still pretty high on him nonetheless), its players like this that you need to get over the final hump on the way to becoming a true annual contender and eventually a Death Star program like Bama, Georgia, and others (Like Clemson for a while there) in the past have become.

Despite being a great program already that can point to its own recent success as its primary recruiting tool, Alabama almost assuredly slid a few hundred thousand his way. And good for them if they did. Thats how modern recruiting works and thats how you close the fucking deal.

This school needs to start playing the money game the way Bama, Oregon, Ole Miss, and others are increasingly playing it. Use NIL and other methods to funnel big money to potential impact high school recruits and transfers - instead of this wholesome clean-cut NIL nonsense that the school currently employs this is only further enhanced by a weird morality superiority complex and an admissions department which still treats transfers as taboo.

The player development at Michigan is already great with the 3-4 star guys, now its time for the university admissions and donors to all get on board and start getting those high 4-5 star players and former 4-5 star transfers here to get developed into world beaters.

With the money this school should funnel to recruits + improved admissions for athletes + elite player development, there is no reason Walter Nolan and Domani Jackson aren't suiting up in maize and blue next fall.

Did any of you actually expect him to pick us?  We almost never get the big recruits.

We finally, after all of these years, get a college football NIL environment that plays to our strength - the Michigan Money Cannon.

And then . . . we don't even load it.  

I feel most 5/4 stars add us in their top 5-3 as a bargaining chip.  They get more money and we settle for 3 stars.

Face it, college football (can we even call it that any more) is changed forever or until the NCAA steps in and provides some sense of control but the but they are clearly a joke. The ban on off site scouting was put in place because of a competitive imbalance due to some schools not being able to afford to send scouts to games but it’s totally fine for the team with the most NIL money to go out and buy as many players as possible. What’s wrong with that picture? 

And the NCAA grants him an immediate waiver to make him eligible for Monday, right? Just as a big fuck you to Michigan. 

A friend of mine that is a family friend of his told me UM was never in play.

man.  some of y’all just love this stuff. i’m not even kidding - you already think stuff, and this confirms that stuff, and you get to wallow in misery and self-loathing yet again.  fire it up, i guess.

What the hell is “5-star Plus+”?

This is not a loss.

Not paying recruits upfront is as much of a Harbaugh policy as it is the university. 

Would it have been nice to get him? Sure. 
 

Is he a proven, polished player that hurts even more to miss out on twice. No. 
 

Michigan will get their kids and all is well. 
 

I’ll take the Harbaugh way over the pay upfront method all day everyday. 

They’re going to pay him upfront. Michigan isn’t. When you are a high profile, instant impact recruit, and you can command that kind of leverage in the recruiting process that’s what it’s going to boil down to. Michigan can keep swinging, but more often than not, they’re going to keep missing in these instances. And I don’t blame kids who want to get paid upfront, because they know if they perform on the field, they’re going to get paid later anyway. Just as much as they’d get at Michigan, if not more. 

Also certainly helps that Saban has a near infallible track record with the secondary.

College football has become super dumb. Glad the boys have been so successful of late but the sport in general is a shell of its glory days.

With the NCAAs unsettling focus on Michigan, not drawing outside the lines on NIL is likely the right move at the moment - but the concept that players who decide to avail themselves of what is now happening in the current market are not "team" players because they are taking the signing bonus NIL payments many teams are making is laughable. 

If you had two offers to join companies and one said - we value your skills, we see your potential and we are going to give you $$$ to join upfront our team, along with the potential to earn more, vs. we value your skills, we see your potential, and we want you to join our team to prove it so that we can determine if you will earn any pay - what team are you going to join?

Many of the comments are simply a joke - I agree Michigan should be ok with using some form of incentive - to this point it has worked out, but having players like Hutchinson and Corum leading the team culture has also been a HUUUUGE part of the reason why.

The other thing is Harbaugh's style of play simply is archaic - its effective, but how many QBs & WRs want to go to a team that throws the ball 8 times against its second biggest rival? Using the offense to be offensive and not complimentary would be interesting.  How many times has Michigan used tempo with Harbaugh - most of the two minute drills tend to look like the first time it has been done in weeks quite honestly.  I look at even the RBs - not that they don't get the ball a bit, but the style is smashing yourself between the tackles over and over and over - not being creative in using the passing game to open holes - it is most generally, we are going to run the ball straight into you for 2-3 qtrs to wear you down.

There's also a blunt reality of where Michigan is with institutional and NCAA shackles put together.  If I am Michigan - I would be raising holy hell over a person joining the enforcement team that has shown complete and total bias against the institution - and has clearly joined simply to grind his own axe.

I would argue that if Michigan can pull this off over the next two games, it is likely the next BIG hurdle of getting them past some of the recruiting challenges as well (OSU the last few years being the first) - the perception is Michigan is now "good" but winning a NC would put them past the Harbaugh is good, but can't win the big one stage.  That might sway a few more players that would consider delayed NIL, but even that is not likely to be earth shattering.

Looks like Will Howard might be headed to OSU after Miller Moss dropped 6 TDs in the bowl game for USC.

He just got a crystal ball.

This is nothing new or recent—Michigan has been a consistent bridesmaid for top recruits for well over 20 years.

So he chose the program that's been on the greatest dynastic run of the modern era, that's producing 2 likely 1st round DBs this year, with the greatest CFB coach of all time who still spends most of his time working with the secondary.....

And that's somehow proof that Alabama offered more $$? The money thing isn't a secret or illegal anymore, if he truly was offered a huge up front chunk where is the proof of that? I know it's shocking to some Michigan fans, but the world for most players does not revolve around a love for Michigan. The kid made a perfectly reasonable choice from a football perspective. Wish him well and move on.

At times I’d like to see the stars and “big names” on signing day. Then I wait a couple/few years and I do see them! 😊 The player development and culture at Michigan seems to be second to none. THE TEAM, THE TEAM, THE TEAM! Go Blue! 

The bag always wins

So much for that strategy of making up for our recruiting losses by winning in the portal.  It seems pretty clear that last year’s portal success was an anomaly and our shitty NIL approach is costing us with transfers as much as it is with high schoolers.    
 

At some point soon this level of recruiting is going come back to bite us.