EJ Holland covers Michigan recruiting for On3. Reports have surfaced that the Wolverines have aggressively pursued LSU quarterback commitment and No. 1 overall prospect Bryce Underwood in recent weeks. Holland joined Matt Moscona on After Further Review to discuss the possibility of Underwood choosing the Wolverines as National Signing Day approaches.
On Underwood’s recruitment overall…
“It’s an interesting situation. Bryce Underwood has been committed to LSU for nearly a year. All signs pointed to him being extremely happy with that commitment. He’s got a great relationship with (offensive coordinator) Joe Sloan and (head coach) Brian Kelly. On top of that, LSU has done a great job with the NIL perspective. Michigan was in the mix for Bryce Underwood early on, but at the same time, it always seemed like he had a wandering eye toward the South. For those who don’t know, Bryce is from the state of Michigan, about 30 minutes from Ann Arbor. I think Michigan kind of started to feel pessimistic there around November last year, so they ended up taking a commitment from Carter Smith out of Florida. So, there was no real movement between Michigan and Underwood until recently. Michigan hasn’t really been proactive with NIL, but they have recently changed their approach. I think desperate times call for desperate measures. If you’ve watched Michigan football this year, you know the quarterback situation is not good. Therefore, I think people around the program got restless and decided to make a big push for Underwood and see where things go from there.
Why Underwood now?
I think it’s desperate times call for desperate measures. You see the quarterback situation. You see that this team can’t have success without better quarterback play. I mean, Underwood is right in your back yard. He’s the No. 1 ranked recruit in America regardless of position, and Sherrone Moore, he’s a guy that has been an assistant on this staff for a while. He was at Central Michigan before his time at Michigan, so he knows a lot of people around Underwood’s camp. So, there’s a lot of familiarity there. Underwood’s I think visited Michigan a dozen times during this process, and most of those came as a younger prospect. But still, there’s a familiarity with Underwood being a local prospect. And yes, boosters are sick of seeing this quarterback play, and they want a legitimate answer for next year. If Michigan isn’t able to flip Bryce Underwood, they’re going to have to go deep into the portal. I think that’s where (Barstool Sports owner and Michigan alumni Dave) Portnoy comes in. This movement with Underwood, from what I have been able to tell, doesn’t have to do with Portnoy. Now, the Portnoy money is real. If they go the portal route, he’ll be involved. But there’s a different group of boosters that want to see Underwood at Michigan. They feel like he is the solution. And Moore, again, has always had a great relationship with those around Underwood, so they’re trying this last attempt before Signing Day.
Why hasn’t Michigan continued to push for Bryce Underwood throughout the last year…
Like I said, things kind of changed with the NIL situation. That’s not something that Michigan really participated in. And when Underwood committed to LSU, Jim Harbaugh was still the head coach at Michigan. One thing Harbaugh preached at Michigan was transformational over transactional. He didn’t really want Michigan to get into these NIL wars, which is going to happen often for the No. 1 player in America. I don’t think Michigan wanted to participate in it. They took Carter Smith who just decommitted (from Michigan) before Bryce Underwood made his decision. They were content going the Carter Smith route and possibly looking into the transfer portal had the quarterback situation gone like it’s gone this season. So, yeah, I think the combination of the poor quarterback play, the switch, maybe, in philosophy from Harbaugh to Moore and maybe just some restless boosters kind of created the storm for Michigan to go all in on Bryce Underwood.
Can you tell us more about Michigan’s NIL offer?
Yeah, it’s tough to put the details out there. They have a substantial offer out there on the plate, multiple million dollars. There was a report from On3 national that the offer was around or north of five million dollars. I think it’s a little bit more than that. I wouldn’t be surprised if LSU has an offer out more than that. I think these two programs or those around these two programs are willing to swing for the fences and continuing to counter each other. I think where LSU might have the advantage, aside from NIL, again, is that Bryce always had a wandering eye for the South. He had every opportunity to stay home and commit to Michigan before this recent NIL battle. The relationship with Joe Sloan is super strong. He loves the pass-happy offense that LSU has, and he just likes the culture down in Baton Rouge. I’m not sure that he’s completely sold on Michigan’s development of quarterbacks or the offense, but obviously he would have an opportunity to come in and start as a true freshman at Michigan. He would be the best quarterback in the room right now. There’s a chance (Garrett) Nussmeier comes back for LSU, so maybe that becomes maybe a little bit more appealing. So there are some outside factors that could work in favor for LSU. A lot of them could work in favor of LSU, maybe a few that could work in favor for Michigan. But at the end of the day, I think the most important factor is NIL, and it’ll be interesting to see who comes up with the most significant offer by the time we reach signing day.
Do you think the deciding factor will be the highest bidder?
It’s tough to say that. I do think this is more of a transactional recruitment. For me, it doesn’t really matter if Underwood comes back to Michigan for a visit. Who cares? He’s already been to Michigan in the past. There’s nothing else he can really learn about Michigan. It’s more so how much money can you really get out of Michigan, in my opinion. And that’s not really a knock on the kid. He’s just in the position, and that’s great for him. I think the other factors might weigh, and if the NIL deals are very close, if we get to a point where Signing Day is December 4th, and we’re at Thanksgiving, and the NIL deals are very close in dollar amount, then some of the other factors might give one school the advantage over the other.
How do you think this ends up with Bryce Underwood?
If I had to pick today, I would say he sticks with LSU. I don’t know if the dollar gap between Michigan and LSU will be significant enough to where those other factors that I mentioned, the quarterback development, the Sloan relationship, Sloan is going to be at his game this week, the offense and just the culture fit. I don’t know if those factors will be pushed to the side if the NIL difference isn’t significant. I’m sure Michigan will try to push try to push as much as it can. I’m sure they’ll try to raise as much money as possible, but will there be that significant of a gap to where these other factors don’t really matter. I’m not sure. I would put my confidence level for Michigan at about 35 percent. That’s what I would be comfortable with right now.
