Harbaugh in the wind update. The Athletic clears some things up about what's going on in Harbaugh's head:
…sources pushed back on the theory that Michigan’s handling of NIL will be a major factor in Harbaugh’s NFL decision.
“Everybody’s got this so unbelievably wrong,” one source said, pointing to Cade McNamara, Blake Corum, J.J. McCarthy, Aidan Hutchinson and other Michigan stars who landed lucrative NIL deals, along with an arrangement that allows players to profit from the sale of officially licensed jerseys.
However:
Whether it’s relaxing restrictions on the use of school trademarks or providing additional NIL infrastructure, there’s a sense that Michigan can do more to maximize its NIL potential.
Harbaugh is Harbaugh so he may indeed flit off to the NFL at a whim but it doesn't sound like it'll be because he feels like he can't compete at a high level. Michigan had the misfortune to run up against a generational Georgia team without the kind of flamethrower at QB you need to overcome that kind of opponent, but that's more an accident of timing than fate.
Settlement reached. The Dr. Anderson number:
Michigan has reached a $490 million settlement with more than 1,000 survivors of sexual abuse by former team doctor Robert Anderson. Parker Stinar, an attorney representing Anderson survivors, said the two sides reached an agreement at approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday.
I have no opinion on whether this is the correct number. So much of the sturm und drang around this was plaintiffs lawyers saying whatever to make the number go up and university officials saying nothing because they weren't allowed to. The number does not matter. What matters is how the university handled it once it was brought to light—pretty well, it seems, no John Englers—and how ruthlessly they ejected Mark Schlissel when his malfeasance came to light. I've seen a lot of questions about why they released the massively embarrassing emails, and I sincerely hope the answer was "fuck around and find out." No quarter for people high up in the university's governance who can't follow basic protocols about decency.
[After THE JUMP: PSU gets aggressive with ticket holders]
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