Jim Harbaugh on Michigan and NIL
I don't believe that I've come across this Coach Harbaugh quote here on this site. But, it perfectly illuminates the Michigan program's current NIL disposition. Although many fans vehemently disagree with the program's stance, the ongoing kerfuffle between 'Bama and A&M exposes how slippery the NIL slope truly is. In the article, the author expresses that Jim Harbaugh has been correct in his assessment of programs that "cheat".
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.
https://michigan.rivals.com/news/column-love-him-or-hate-him-jim-harbaugh-was-right
Hate to say it, but this is a very bad sign. Coaches making millions for the "transformational experience" then turning around saying players shouldn't because "transformational experience" is a pile of hypocritical rubbish.
The evolution of technology and media is such that young athletes are able to gauge, and cash in on their market value far sooner than they could 30 years ago. In modern athletics, the notion of getting an education first and THEN cashing in is ancient and basically defunct now, especially with NIL.
If Harbaugh won't spearhead and embrace NIL pay to play, alumni must. Otherwise, Harbaugh will soon be leaving Michigan as an overrun stain on the evolutionary highway, run over by most of the other high profile programs.
Leaders and best needs to include best at staying fresh with the times, helping young men to achieve even margins of the rewards their millionaire coaches reap year after year.
As a practical matter this system will implode and give college football a black eye as a whole, do individual programs get a black eye? Maybe, maybe not, but they'll have to come up with a more regulated transparent system in the not too distant future, and if we're going to allow straight booster "I'll pay you to come here" deals, that kind of needs to also be regulated and transparent as well.