Count me as someone who wanted cord cutting and doesn’t complain about the options available to me now. That’s all I wanted. Options.
Also count me as someone who wanted free and open unlimited transfers with immediate eligibility. I am not complaining at all.
But I will continue to complain that college athletes don’t have a collectively bargained agreement and contracts. Because that is the obvious solution to solve everything.
My main problem is that college athletes still aren’t in the free market. They are the only segment of the population that is still not allowed to participate in a capatalistic society as you put it. And the only reason they aren’t is because “that’s how it’s always been, and we are afraid of change.”
The AD could have just as easily said: give us $40M to distribute to players and we will name the practice facility after you. The donors want to give money but they mostly follow the lead of the AD who sets the spending priorities.
That’s the guy who tried to ruin cfb risk by creating a bunch of OSU bots. Anything he says should be ignored.
Edit: now he’s negging me. You mad I called you out? What kind of fucking loser gets mad he can’t be the general of the Michigan risk team so he makes a bunch of bots to submit moves for OSU to try to tank a game. That is like what a 5 year old does
Wow so confrontational when you are the one who is incorrect.
The big ten started guaranteeing scholarships for 4 years in 2014. Its wild that a decade later people don’t know that. Also the NCAA passed a rule that went into effect this season guaranteeing scholarships for 5 years or graduation which ever comes first. Although that doesn’t apply to Jace since he started before that rule was changed.
I don’t think May is being polite. GW3 was in the portal so he presumably convinced him to withdraw because he prefers using a scholarship on him over some other portal options.
Yeah this is what I've been saying all along. In order to retain a guy like JJ, first you have to get JJ on campus. Underwood is the closest thing to JJ in this class or the next. He may be a complete bust. But that is a chance you gotta take, because in order to win championships, we need JJs (and all the other guys about to go high in the draft).
This is pretty good. I think an 11 man rotation might be a little high, probably in this situation, Howard is not playing those 3 min per game, and maybe even Brooks isn't playing either.
Also Wolf and Burnett averaged 31 mpg last year, so 20 min might be a little low for them.
I said prioritizing his 3 FAU recruits who all decommitted this week. Like he'd rather have the younger developmental guys for 4 years vs bringing in a bunch of 1 year rentals.
Terrance Shannon had a 124.8 otrg on 27.9% usage. Caleb Love had 112.8 otrg on 25.1% usage. Bufkin and Howard were 111 otrg on 21.7% usage. There is a huge difference in the on court performance of those two pairings, regardless of draft position.
Looking at Torvik's PRPG! metric shows the contrast in impact they had, 4.1 and 6.6 vs 3.6 and 3.4. Aside from Edey, Shannon is the best player in the big 10, and Caleb Love won Pac12 player of the year.
Yeah I think maybe the narrative on this blog has gotten a little too harsh on Jace. Maybe I missed something he did, but from what I've gathered, he was frustrated that his injury was misdiagnosed and it pretty much cost him his senior season. People in all walks of life get pretty upset at doctors that misdiagnose them, including insulting them, so I don't really fault him for doing something people on this blog have likely done.
Juwan did the same thing with Martelli, but man, what a contrast between Martelli and Boynton. Both former head coaches coming to be assistants. But one clearly on backside of his career and one still in the prime.
Even without McNeely, if you get the 3 FAU players, Wolf, Essegian, Dailey, and Rooths I think May can make the tournament with that team. The FAU team that was an 8 seed around the 50s, near Iowa and OSU - meaning you could go about 10-10 in the Big 10. With a decent non-con that is enough to make it to Dayton. So you're taking the best players from that FAU team, adding 2 high major transfers, Wolf, and you still have Burnett. That seems like enough of a core. Bring back GW3, play Tschetter and TWill spot minutes here and there and it could work.
I think the Big Ten conference agreed in 2014 that scholarships are 4 year agreements. I have no clue how the covid year impacts that.
The NCAA also started some new rule in 2022 that aid is guaranteed for "5 years or through graduation, whichever comes first." But that may not actually apply to Jace (?). It says something about first eligibility year being 2023-2024.
Pretty much said the same thing on the front page post. Wolf & Essigian is your 2022 class. Get Dailey and convince GW3 to come back. That is your 2023 class. Rooths and Brooks is your 2024. And given that we are already halfway through the 2025 cycle, I don't hate the idea of taking one of those flyer guys from FAU's class and redshirting them so you have a start on the 2025 class, which will need 3-5 guys.
Given Williams and Jace haven't entered the portal yet, and I expect they don't have enough of a highlight reel to get a lot of P5 interest, I think they will probably stay. Meaning you have 8 scholarships available. Ideal scenario seems to be the 3 FAU players, Wolf, Rooths, Dailey, Essegian, GW3.
With some NIL to the 3 FAU grad transfers, maybe you could have them walk on and stuff in the 3 FAU recruits or go for Anderson.
We may not know about Goldin, Davis, and Martin till after May 31, the deadline to withdraw from the draft.
Was going to say this would be a hire that says “we just want to make the tournament every year. Don’t care how you do it or what happens once you get there.”
Yeah in the midwest, I think the public will be down on Purdue after what happened last year. And I actually agree because I don't think Painter is a good tournament coach. So they will be picked less than the metrics say they should.
Not sure how difficult this would be to add, but maybe a button that flips the team and opponent boxes so you can quickly look at the matchup from both perspectives.
The pressure comes from the fact Beilein took Michigan to 2 final fours and now they just missed the tournament two years in a row. I don't think paying a buyout really moves the needle that much. It's more the fact that apathy has set in and there will be pressure to get fans excited about the team again, no matter who is the coach.
Its the dismissive attitude of Warde as "we are transformational, not transactional." as you state at the end...why can't it be both? Why can't you get paid relative to the value you produce and also get a great education? That is the point, no one is saying that Michigan needs to outbid every single football factory in the SEC, but when a kid is like "hey team X is offering me an NIL deal for $25k with a local pizza shop, what can you do?" and Michigan replies "we can offer you nothing now, but if you work real hard, in 4 years you will have a great degree and that will help you find a job." I think its understandable recruits are like "uh alright then no thanks." We love to tout the value of the Michigan degree, and I'm proud of mine for sure, but it is not like if you got your PhD from MSU instead you'd be living in a cardboard box on the street. The other schools offer degrees as well. And I don't expect The Michigan Degree to win out over every single lucrative offer these kids see.
And everyone is aware they get a scholarship, and that is a big benefit, but the market is showing that some kids are worth more than just a scholarship.
So yeah Michigan doesn't need to be dropping insane money on every recruit, but this holier than thou "our transformational experience is better than any transaction" is arrogant and insulting to recruits.
Also, 2 is wrong because you're saying that me and Seth can single handedly raise millions of dollars to compete with other schools for recruits. All fans are at the whims of those in power in this sport with no way out of it.
3. As I pointed out, I don't have a million dollars to give Bryce Underwood. And to reiterate, I am not complaining with how the donors spend their money. They are extremely generous with their money. My problem is with the way the AD spends that money.
As I state later in the thread, people keep talking about the pay proven players model. Sure that is all well and good when you got guys like Zak Zinter and JJ to commit back in 2019. We are 5 years later and the game has changed. You aren't getting the next 5 star QB without something up front. We've witnessed that for the last 2 cycles. Sure, you can get guys like Kendrick Bell, Jayden Denegal, Alex Orji to commit with the promise that they would have an opportunity to make money as a senior. But I don't think any of us think those guys will ever be as good as JJ. And you need those 5* QB types to be the foundation of a top tier team.
I'm a big fan of this meme. It especially applies to Decatur Jack telling me above that because I think the Michigan AD could be better about fundraising for NIL, that therefore I should give my whole bank account to a recruit....yes that will show them.
I sort of got what Sam was trying to say but yeah I'm not sure it holds water. I think he was saying that the ACC and Big 12 are worried about a situation where all 7 at larges are taken by the Big Ten and SEC in a 12 team playoff. So they were like what if we expanded to 14 and everyone gets 2 teams in guaranteed, and once they cracked open that door the Big Ten and SEC said okay sure but then you never get a bye and we also get 3 spots each.
So the Big12/ACC would get 4/14 spots instead of hypothetically 2/12 spots, which nearly doubles their potential revenue cut, in their proposal. But then that very quickly got swamped by Big Ten/SEC.
Not to speak for them, but I think them saying examples of poor NIL doesn't mean Michigan has the worst NIL. They have probably a mediocre system combined with a good culture, a historic program, lots of winning, good coaches, etc. As you said, they have been relatively good at getting guys to stick around. All those things contribute to that. But the problem I see is that in order to get guys to stick around, you need to get them to commit in the first place. When they miss on recruits they want, that depletes the talent on the roster, and that makes it harder to win. So while they are doing decent, they probably could be doing better. They need the next JJ. The next Will Johnson, etc. In order to do that, up front money is probably going to be involved.
The guys who stuck around from the One More Year Fund, are guys that were being recruited back in 2019 when NIL was less of a factor. So you were able to get them at the time, and then use the "we only pay established guys" given the time frame involved to keep them. That strategy is going to be hard pressed to succeed going forward, in my opinion.
I mean there will be trade offs sure. That is understood. It is why I keep talking about Clemson's dumb slide. If ADs have to build fewer bowling alleys then oh well.
Think of it this way: two athletic departments raise $280 million. University A spends $280 million renovating a facility that was redone in 2013. University B spends $80 million upgrading their facility and spends $200 million on a fund that goes towards compensating players a stipend of $50k/year.
The AD does better when the team is better, the team is better when it has more talent, more talent can be acquired through NIL. It can be a symbiotic relationship if the AD chose to see it that way.
Yeah I do think players like new things. Nice things are nice. But I think it is diminishing returns and I think the incentives are all backwards. I mean it is borderline a waste of resources to be spending $280 million on Alabama's football facilities in 2023 after upgrading them in 2013. I understand it is much more than waterfalls. But they still put the waterfalls, bowling alleys, etc in there and that has a cost associated with it. If you were operating this like a business, you would put in all the nutrition and performance things and not all the superfluous stuff, because there is no real value there. But again, they aren't incentivized to think critically about what the players actually need, they are incentivized to just spend more and build more because then they can artificially deflate their budgets which prevents them from having to discuss player compensation.
And yes I think the salary would be coming from the school. But a large part of the schools revenue is derived from donations. So the point is that when the donations come in, the admin needs to be budgeting that for player compensation instead of more dumb things. The majority of donors aren't setting the spending priorities of the AD. The AD says "hey we need $14 million to do these upgrades, donate $X amount and you get Y perks." If an AD instead said "Hey we need $5 million for the roster, donate $X and you get Y perks." Donors would still be there. So yeah you get names on things, but I don't think donors are mainly motivated by that. No one is calling up Warde and saying "hey I want my name on a plaque in Schembechler Hall, what can we do?" and Warde goes "uhh I guess we could add another hot tub..." The point is that the AD is herding the donors dollars into different pet projects, one of which could and should be payments to players.
That isn't relevant. Me giving recruits some money isn't going to sway them. What I can do personally vs the fundraising apparatus that the AD can summon isn't even a comparison. Calling me a third grader is rich, considering you can't understand the difference in orders of magnitude we are discussing here. Then you resort to name calling when you get called out for being wrong about what happened with Quinn Ewers.
I'm not mad "rich donors aren't doing what I want." Rich donors are giving a ton of money already. What that money goes towards is heavily influenced by the administration in the Michigan athletic department. And this is the point that Brian and Seth are making. A leader in this NIL era, is one who is going to be able to use the athletic departments donor connections (so called money cannon) to build a great roster. That is the linkage that is needed. I'm not demanding Stephen Ross pay Bryce Underwood. I'm saying that next time there is a fund raising event, the AD should be incentivizing donors to give to NIL efforts. NIL will bring more talent, more talent will produce more wins, and more wins will in turn generate more revenue.
At no point have I admonished any of the donors. Your reading and comprehension skills are terrible.
No I don't think we are forgetting that. That is the main point. The school/AD sees the NIL collectives as their competition so doesn't want to promote them. They want to greedily hog the money.
Players do like facilities sure. There is a huge difference between working out in a gym on campus that was built in the 1920s, like most students vs working out in a brand new gym with customized equipment. But what is the difference between working out in a facility that was completely redone 15 years ago? It is certainly not as significant. Also, ask a player if they would rather be able to get free haircuts once a week and play laser tag in the facilities, or have a salary of $50,000/year. I assume they would take the money and then be fine paying for hair cuts and laser tag like every other student. Ask Alabama players if they prefer 4 waterfalls or some extra money? I bet they would live with a single waterfall.
And yeah sure, the donors want some recognition. But there is only 1 facility, and it isn't named after a donor. I guess we will see if this round of $14 million results in any new named buildings or coaches, but my guess is it won't. 99% of donors aren't getting anything named after them anyway. They are in it for the clout.
1. The AD absolutely sets budget priorities and decides what the money gets spent on. Most of these donors don't give a shit where their money goes, they just want to be in the suites, get invited to exclusive team events, and generally rub elbows with the team. If the AD or the HC or whoever tells them "we need money for $X" you can bet they are going to be influenced by that.
2. Explain to me how Clemson installing a slide so players who are too lazy to take the stairs is a good investment. Now do the same for the laser tag facilities, the indoor waterfalls, the barbershops and recording studios. What is the investment return on Texas putting a flat screen in every players locker? Are they all individually watching their favorite shows before games?
Yeah its nice to have nice things, but the extent to which the ADs will absolutely waste money on facilities in order to do anything other than share with the players has reached comical levels. Instead of spending $280 million on facilities and nearly $20 million/year on a coaches, they probably could have spent about half that, still had a super nice facility, and given money to the players.
I haven't been paying attention? Well first off, you completely butchered the story of what happened with Quinn Ewers, so maybe you should pay more attention. And secondly, look up the talent composite score of every national champion in the last 20 years. The teams with the most talent, win the most games. The correlation is clear. A counter example like Michigan this year, doesn't discount the last few years of Georgia or Alabama and Clemson before them. Who stacked rosters full of talent by paying players. Just saying 'Texas A&M' doesn't change that fact. There are no guarantees. But amassing talent gives you the best odds.
3. Well in order for JJ and Blake to be stars, you had to get them on campus in the first place. I guess you can keep trying to find diamonds in the rough, and picking up the scraps of what other programs leave. But the last 2 cycles Michigan has had to go to a lot of their tier 2 and 3 guys. The landscape is changing, and if Michigan doesn't change as well there aren't going to be a whole lot of JJs that commit.
That isnt what happened with Quinn Ewers. He got a $1 million deal from a Kombucha company and in the contract it said he had to be the starting qb in order to make any of the money. And because he played HS in Texas, the company he signed with was actually a Texas based company. So it wasn't OSU fans at all. He left OSU because he wasn't going to start.
Now he did get an F250 from a dealership in Columbus, but he had to give it back as soon as he transferred.
Within the last year Warde Manuel has been going to big time donors soliciting $14 million for upgrading the football facilities. He could just as easily have gone to those same people and asked them to donate $14 million to an NIL collective.
The thing is, these mega donors are already spending that money. Seth isn't spending their money. He's saying a more forward thinking AD would be directing these donors to spend money on the roster, not on building more elaborate facilities.
And that is what is happening at other schools. When Ryan Day speaks to boosters he says "we need this amount donated to collectives to win games." Warde (and a lot of other ADs) are just sleezy salesmen with fancy renderings showing why Michigan absolutely needs a photo studio to take recruits pictures."
It is just about priorities. And without a leader with vision, the donors will end up throwing their money at unnecessary frivolous projects.
Seth addressed this on the front page yesterday. But a 5 star QB usually creates a 1 year shadow, and most people expected him to stay for 4 years. So they only swung and missed on one class, 2023. Which was the Dante Moore year. They put all their eggs in that basket, and his only criteria was being able to start as a freshman. Which a) is a dumb criteria and b) eliminated Michigan. The only criticism, which is an open question, is when they should have moved on from Moore.
Also guys who want to transfer but haven't said anything yet so they can finish the semester and get their degree. Unlike a Terrance Shannon, who announced his decision to transfer even though he was planning to finish another semester at Texas Tech to get his degree. The lesson is, if you want to grad transfer, don't enter the portal till you have that degree in hand.
Recent Comments
Count me as someone who wanted cord cutting and doesn’t complain about the options available to me now. That’s all I wanted. Options.
Also count me as someone who wanted free and open unlimited transfers with immediate eligibility. I am not complaining at all.
But I will continue to complain that college athletes don’t have a collectively bargained agreement and contracts. Because that is the obvious solution to solve everything.
My main problem is that college athletes still aren’t in the free market. They are the only segment of the population that is still not allowed to participate in a capatalistic society as you put it. And the only reason they aren’t is because “that’s how it’s always been, and we are afraid of change.”
The AD could have just as easily said: give us $40M to distribute to players and we will name the practice facility after you. The donors want to give money but they mostly follow the lead of the AD who sets the spending priorities.
That’s the guy who tried to ruin cfb risk by creating a bunch of OSU bots. Anything he says should be ignored.
Edit: now he’s negging me. You mad I called you out? What kind of fucking loser gets mad he can’t be the general of the Michigan risk team so he makes a bunch of bots to submit moves for OSU to try to tank a game. That is like what a 5 year old does
Wow so confrontational when you are the one who is incorrect.
The big ten started guaranteeing scholarships for 4 years in 2014. Its wild that a decade later people don’t know that. Also the NCAA passed a rule that went into effect this season guaranteeing scholarships for 5 years or graduation which ever comes first. Although that doesn’t apply to Jace since he started before that rule was changed.
I don’t think May is being polite. GW3 was in the portal so he presumably convinced him to withdraw because he prefers using a scholarship on him over some other portal options.
Yeah this is what I've been saying all along. In order to retain a guy like JJ, first you have to get JJ on campus. Underwood is the closest thing to JJ in this class or the next. He may be a complete bust. But that is a chance you gotta take, because in order to win championships, we need JJs (and all the other guys about to go high in the draft).
This is pretty good. I think an 11 man rotation might be a little high, probably in this situation, Howard is not playing those 3 min per game, and maybe even Brooks isn't playing either.
Also Wolf and Burnett averaged 31 mpg last year, so 20 min might be a little low for them.
So you’re ignoring the whole season in favor of what they did in a single elimination game?
sure the best players on a 2 and 3 seed wouldn’t have made Michigan a good team.
Might be another reason they aren’t pursuing Boyd
I said prioritizing his 3 FAU recruits who all decommitted this week. Like he'd rather have the younger developmental guys for 4 years vs bringing in a bunch of 1 year rentals.
Terrance Shannon had a 124.8 otrg on 27.9% usage. Caleb Love had 112.8 otrg on 25.1% usage. Bufkin and Howard were 111 otrg on 21.7% usage. There is a huge difference in the on court performance of those two pairings, regardless of draft position.
Looking at Torvik's PRPG! metric shows the contrast in impact they had, 4.1 and 6.6 vs 3.6 and 3.4. Aside from Edey, Shannon is the best player in the big 10, and Caleb Love won Pac12 player of the year.
Could be that May is prioritizing his FAU recruits and didn't think there would be room. Or they are looking at OkSt or Georgia guys instead.
If this team had Shannon, Love, and Dickinson this year they are a 4 seed.
Might be a good time to update the depth chart by class.
Not great that Tuttle is injured. Also is there any talk of trying Cabana at WR? I think he should be more of a Deebo Samuel type.
I had high hopes for Bounds, but year 4 and not on the 2 deep isn't great.
I would consider all of them on the team until you hear otherwise.
I made this roster with Torvik's roster cast. He seems to project it being a pretty good team. Link
Yeah I think maybe the narrative on this blog has gotten a little too harsh on Jace. Maybe I missed something he did, but from what I've gathered, he was frustrated that his injury was misdiagnosed and it pretty much cost him his senior season. People in all walks of life get pretty upset at doctors that misdiagnose them, including insulting them, so I don't really fault him for doing something people on this blog have likely done.
Juwan did the same thing with Martelli, but man, what a contrast between Martelli and Boynton. Both former head coaches coming to be assistants. But one clearly on backside of his career and one still in the prime.
Even without McNeely, if you get the 3 FAU players, Wolf, Essegian, Dailey, and Rooths I think May can make the tournament with that team. The FAU team that was an 8 seed around the 50s, near Iowa and OSU - meaning you could go about 10-10 in the Big 10. With a decent non-con that is enough to make it to Dayton. So you're taking the best players from that FAU team, adding 2 high major transfers, Wolf, and you still have Burnett. That seems like enough of a core. Bring back GW3, play Tschetter and TWill spot minutes here and there and it could work.
Not a fan of that pronunciation. There is no vowel between the k and the d. Maybe we can get him to change his name.
I think the Big Ten conference agreed in 2014 that scholarships are 4 year agreements. I have no clue how the covid year impacts that.
The NCAA also started some new rule in 2022 that aid is guaranteed for "5 years or through graduation, whichever comes first." But that may not actually apply to Jace (?). It says something about first eligibility year being 2023-2024.
Yeah I guess my point is, no matter what any of us think of him, scholarships are guaranteed and he can't just be cut if he doesn't join the portal
edit: double
Pretty much said the same thing on the front page post. Wolf & Essigian is your 2022 class. Get Dailey and convince GW3 to come back. That is your 2023 class. Rooths and Brooks is your 2024. And given that we are already halfway through the 2025 cycle, I don't hate the idea of taking one of those flyer guys from FAU's class and redshirting them so you have a start on the 2025 class, which will need 3-5 guys.
Given Williams and Jace haven't entered the portal yet, and I expect they don't have enough of a highlight reel to get a lot of P5 interest, I think they will probably stay. Meaning you have 8 scholarships available. Ideal scenario seems to be the 3 FAU players, Wolf, Rooths, Dailey, Essegian, GW3.
With some NIL to the 3 FAU grad transfers, maybe you could have them walk on and stuff in the 3 FAU recruits or go for Anderson.
We may not know about Goldin, Davis, and Martin till after May 31, the deadline to withdraw from the draft.
Was going to say this would be a hire that says “we just want to make the tournament every year. Don’t care how you do it or what happens once you get there.”
Yeah in the midwest, I think the public will be down on Purdue after what happened last year. And I actually agree because I don't think Painter is a good tournament coach. So they will be picked less than the metrics say they should.
I wonder how much stock ADs are going to put into what May does this tournament. If he immediately loses in the first round, do they back off?
From what I can tell, the algorithm likes a very chalky South and Midwest.
Not sure how difficult this would be to add, but maybe a button that flips the team and opponent boxes so you can quickly look at the matchup from both perspectives.
The pressure comes from the fact Beilein took Michigan to 2 final fours and now they just missed the tournament two years in a row. I don't think paying a buyout really moves the needle that much. It's more the fact that apathy has set in and there will be pressure to get fans excited about the team again, no matter who is the coach.
What is Shaka's track record in a power conference? It's bad. I don't think he should even be under consideration.
Its the dismissive attitude of Warde as "we are transformational, not transactional." as you state at the end...why can't it be both? Why can't you get paid relative to the value you produce and also get a great education? That is the point, no one is saying that Michigan needs to outbid every single football factory in the SEC, but when a kid is like "hey team X is offering me an NIL deal for $25k with a local pizza shop, what can you do?" and Michigan replies "we can offer you nothing now, but if you work real hard, in 4 years you will have a great degree and that will help you find a job." I think its understandable recruits are like "uh alright then no thanks." We love to tout the value of the Michigan degree, and I'm proud of mine for sure, but it is not like if you got your PhD from MSU instead you'd be living in a cardboard box on the street. The other schools offer degrees as well. And I don't expect The Michigan Degree to win out over every single lucrative offer these kids see.
And everyone is aware they get a scholarship, and that is a big benefit, but the market is showing that some kids are worth more than just a scholarship.
So yeah Michigan doesn't need to be dropping insane money on every recruit, but this holier than thou "our transformational experience is better than any transaction" is arrogant and insulting to recruits.
Stop upvoting your own posts.
Also, 2 is wrong because you're saying that me and Seth can single handedly raise millions of dollars to compete with other schools for recruits. All fans are at the whims of those in power in this sport with no way out of it.
3. As I pointed out, I don't have a million dollars to give Bryce Underwood. And to reiterate, I am not complaining with how the donors spend their money. They are extremely generous with their money. My problem is with the way the AD spends that money.
As I state later in the thread, people keep talking about the pay proven players model. Sure that is all well and good when you got guys like Zak Zinter and JJ to commit back in 2019. We are 5 years later and the game has changed. You aren't getting the next 5 star QB without something up front. We've witnessed that for the last 2 cycles. Sure, you can get guys like Kendrick Bell, Jayden Denegal, Alex Orji to commit with the promise that they would have an opportunity to make money as a senior. But I don't think any of us think those guys will ever be as good as JJ. And you need those 5* QB types to be the foundation of a top tier team.
I'm a big fan of this meme. It especially applies to Decatur Jack telling me above that because I think the Michigan AD could be better about fundraising for NIL, that therefore I should give my whole bank account to a recruit....yes that will show them.
I sort of got what Sam was trying to say but yeah I'm not sure it holds water. I think he was saying that the ACC and Big 12 are worried about a situation where all 7 at larges are taken by the Big Ten and SEC in a 12 team playoff. So they were like what if we expanded to 14 and everyone gets 2 teams in guaranteed, and once they cracked open that door the Big Ten and SEC said okay sure but then you never get a bye and we also get 3 spots each.
So the Big12/ACC would get 4/14 spots instead of hypothetically 2/12 spots, which nearly doubles their potential revenue cut, in their proposal. But then that very quickly got swamped by Big Ten/SEC.
Not to speak for them, but I think them saying examples of poor NIL doesn't mean Michigan has the worst NIL. They have probably a mediocre system combined with a good culture, a historic program, lots of winning, good coaches, etc. As you said, they have been relatively good at getting guys to stick around. All those things contribute to that. But the problem I see is that in order to get guys to stick around, you need to get them to commit in the first place. When they miss on recruits they want, that depletes the talent on the roster, and that makes it harder to win. So while they are doing decent, they probably could be doing better. They need the next JJ. The next Will Johnson, etc. In order to do that, up front money is probably going to be involved.
The guys who stuck around from the One More Year Fund, are guys that were being recruited back in 2019 when NIL was less of a factor. So you were able to get them at the time, and then use the "we only pay established guys" given the time frame involved to keep them. That strategy is going to be hard pressed to succeed going forward, in my opinion.
I mean there will be trade offs sure. That is understood. It is why I keep talking about Clemson's dumb slide. If ADs have to build fewer bowling alleys then oh well.
Think of it this way: two athletic departments raise $280 million. University A spends $280 million renovating a facility that was redone in 2013. University B spends $80 million upgrading their facility and spends $200 million on a fund that goes towards compensating players a stipend of $50k/year.
The money is there. It comes down to priorities.
The AD does better when the team is better, the team is better when it has more talent, more talent can be acquired through NIL. It can be a symbiotic relationship if the AD chose to see it that way.
I think there is some middle ground between eliminate all sports and spend $200M on new facilities every decade.
I know it is not a business, the point is that they often don't take a hard look at what is needed because spending excessively is encouraged.
Yeah I do think players like new things. Nice things are nice. But I think it is diminishing returns and I think the incentives are all backwards. I mean it is borderline a waste of resources to be spending $280 million on Alabama's football facilities in 2023 after upgrading them in 2013. I understand it is much more than waterfalls. But they still put the waterfalls, bowling alleys, etc in there and that has a cost associated with it. If you were operating this like a business, you would put in all the nutrition and performance things and not all the superfluous stuff, because there is no real value there. But again, they aren't incentivized to think critically about what the players actually need, they are incentivized to just spend more and build more because then they can artificially deflate their budgets which prevents them from having to discuss player compensation.
And yes I think the salary would be coming from the school. But a large part of the schools revenue is derived from donations. So the point is that when the donations come in, the admin needs to be budgeting that for player compensation instead of more dumb things. The majority of donors aren't setting the spending priorities of the AD. The AD says "hey we need $14 million to do these upgrades, donate $X amount and you get Y perks." If an AD instead said "Hey we need $5 million for the roster, donate $X and you get Y perks." Donors would still be there. So yeah you get names on things, but I don't think donors are mainly motivated by that. No one is calling up Warde and saying "hey I want my name on a plaque in Schembechler Hall, what can we do?" and Warde goes "uhh I guess we could add another hot tub..." The point is that the AD is herding the donors dollars into different pet projects, one of which could and should be payments to players.
That isn't relevant. Me giving recruits some money isn't going to sway them. What I can do personally vs the fundraising apparatus that the AD can summon isn't even a comparison. Calling me a third grader is rich, considering you can't understand the difference in orders of magnitude we are discussing here. Then you resort to name calling when you get called out for being wrong about what happened with Quinn Ewers.
I'm not mad "rich donors aren't doing what I want." Rich donors are giving a ton of money already. What that money goes towards is heavily influenced by the administration in the Michigan athletic department. And this is the point that Brian and Seth are making. A leader in this NIL era, is one who is going to be able to use the athletic departments donor connections (so called money cannon) to build a great roster. That is the linkage that is needed. I'm not demanding Stephen Ross pay Bryce Underwood. I'm saying that next time there is a fund raising event, the AD should be incentivizing donors to give to NIL efforts. NIL will bring more talent, more talent will produce more wins, and more wins will in turn generate more revenue.
At no point have I admonished any of the donors. Your reading and comprehension skills are terrible.
No I don't think we are forgetting that. That is the main point. The school/AD sees the NIL collectives as their competition so doesn't want to promote them. They want to greedily hog the money.
Players do like facilities sure. There is a huge difference between working out in a gym on campus that was built in the 1920s, like most students vs working out in a brand new gym with customized equipment. But what is the difference between working out in a facility that was completely redone 15 years ago? It is certainly not as significant. Also, ask a player if they would rather be able to get free haircuts once a week and play laser tag in the facilities, or have a salary of $50,000/year. I assume they would take the money and then be fine paying for hair cuts and laser tag like every other student. Ask Alabama players if they prefer 4 waterfalls or some extra money? I bet they would live with a single waterfall.
And yeah sure, the donors want some recognition. But there is only 1 facility, and it isn't named after a donor. I guess we will see if this round of $14 million results in any new named buildings or coaches, but my guess is it won't. 99% of donors aren't getting anything named after them anyway. They are in it for the clout.
1. The AD absolutely sets budget priorities and decides what the money gets spent on. Most of these donors don't give a shit where their money goes, they just want to be in the suites, get invited to exclusive team events, and generally rub elbows with the team. If the AD or the HC or whoever tells them "we need money for $X" you can bet they are going to be influenced by that.
2. Explain to me how Clemson installing a slide so players who are too lazy to take the stairs is a good investment. Now do the same for the laser tag facilities, the indoor waterfalls, the barbershops and recording studios. What is the investment return on Texas putting a flat screen in every players locker? Are they all individually watching their favorite shows before games?
Yeah its nice to have nice things, but the extent to which the ADs will absolutely waste money on facilities in order to do anything other than share with the players has reached comical levels. Instead of spending $280 million on facilities and nearly $20 million/year on a coaches, they probably could have spent about half that, still had a super nice facility, and given money to the players.
I haven't been paying attention? Well first off, you completely butchered the story of what happened with Quinn Ewers, so maybe you should pay more attention. And secondly, look up the talent composite score of every national champion in the last 20 years. The teams with the most talent, win the most games. The correlation is clear. A counter example like Michigan this year, doesn't discount the last few years of Georgia or Alabama and Clemson before them. Who stacked rosters full of talent by paying players. Just saying 'Texas A&M' doesn't change that fact. There are no guarantees. But amassing talent gives you the best odds.
3. Well in order for JJ and Blake to be stars, you had to get them on campus in the first place. I guess you can keep trying to find diamonds in the rough, and picking up the scraps of what other programs leave. But the last 2 cycles Michigan has had to go to a lot of their tier 2 and 3 guys. The landscape is changing, and if Michigan doesn't change as well there aren't going to be a whole lot of JJs that commit.
That isnt what happened with Quinn Ewers. He got a $1 million deal from a Kombucha company and in the contract it said he had to be the starting qb in order to make any of the money. And because he played HS in Texas, the company he signed with was actually a Texas based company. So it wasn't OSU fans at all. He left OSU because he wasn't going to start.
Now he did get an F250 from a dealership in Columbus, but he had to give it back as soon as he transferred.
Within the last year Warde Manuel has been going to big time donors soliciting $14 million for upgrading the football facilities. He could just as easily have gone to those same people and asked them to donate $14 million to an NIL collective.
The thing is, these mega donors are already spending that money. Seth isn't spending their money. He's saying a more forward thinking AD would be directing these donors to spend money on the roster, not on building more elaborate facilities.
And that is what is happening at other schools. When Ryan Day speaks to boosters he says "we need this amount donated to collectives to win games." Warde (and a lot of other ADs) are just sleezy salesmen with fancy renderings showing why Michigan absolutely needs a photo studio to take recruits pictures."
It is just about priorities. And without a leader with vision, the donors will end up throwing their money at unnecessary frivolous projects.
True, but it wasn't a given JJ was going to the NFL this year.
Seth addressed this on the front page yesterday. But a 5 star QB usually creates a 1 year shadow, and most people expected him to stay for 4 years. So they only swung and missed on one class, 2023. Which was the Dante Moore year. They put all their eggs in that basket, and his only criteria was being able to start as a freshman. Which a) is a dumb criteria and b) eliminated Michigan. The only criticism, which is an open question, is when they should have moved on from Moore.
Also guys who want to transfer but haven't said anything yet so they can finish the semester and get their degree. Unlike a Terrance Shannon, who announced his decision to transfer even though he was planning to finish another semester at Texas Tech to get his degree. The lesson is, if you want to grad transfer, don't enter the portal till you have that degree in hand.