One of the biggest recruiting storylines of the last month has been Michigan's push for LSU commit Bryce Underwood. The Michigan Native is a five-star quarterback ranked by On3, ESPN, and 24/7 Sports as the top overall player and quarterback in the class while Rivals ranks him second in both aspects.
Bryce Underwood committed to LSU in January and has been fully onboard since only taking recruiting visits to LSU. That hasn't deterred Michigan especially as of late as the Wolverines are looking to do anything they can to keep Underwood home.
The narrative and the push started when Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy publicly stated he'd be willing to pay $3 million a year in order to make sure Michigan always has a quarterback as the Wolverines are in a disaster season due to their lack of a quarterback. The rest of the program and the boosters have since stepped their game up to ramp up their NIL efforts in hopes of pulling off the flip.
The Wolverines are pot committed at this point as their pursuit of Underwood cost them Four-Star Quarterback Carter Smith who decommitted in late October.
Michigan has been pushing for over a month but, they haven't had a ton of success with Underwood. The Five-Star quarterback hasn't visited Michigan yet, despite it being the local school while he spent this past weekend in Baton Rouge.
No. 1 2025 player and LSU QB commit Bryce Underwood is on campus for Alabama-LSU 🔥@SCNext pic.twitter.com/bWtdxa2Fnz
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 9, 2024
Its hard to blame Michigan for trying to land the Nation's top quarterback especially when he's from their backyard however, at this point Michigan is starting to look pathetic. After it was reported last month that Underwood would receive an NIL package between $4-$5 Million, the Wolverines appear to be more than doubling that figure.
Michigan is prepared to offer LSU 5-star QB commit Bryce Underwood $10.5M over four years, according to @TheWolverineOn3👀
— On3 NIL (@On3NIL) November 14, 2024
Intel: https://t.co/sK99XJNx37 pic.twitter.com/1ScTodhqid
If it takes $10.5 Million Dollars to get a quarterback to consider your school as the In-State school its probably wise to move on. The Wolverines are committing more money to potentially landing a star quarterback than NFL teams pay second round picks over the same four-year period.
Underwood gave insight into why he committed to LSU despite being a Michigan Native and pointed at Michigan's struggles developing star quarterbacks.
👀 5⭐️ 2025 QB Bryce Underwood, who is from Belleville, Michigan basically explaining why he didn’t go to Michigan 🤣 pic.twitter.com/9ggAA76cM7
— The Buckeye Nut (@TheBuckeyeNut) May 29, 2024
The Wolverines continue to make themselves look extremely desperate and on tilt with fans going as far as to set up a "Keep Bryce Underwood and Elijah Dotson Home Tailgate".
Hundreds of Michigan Wolverines football fans pull up to Belleville High School to see No. 1 recruit Bryce Underwood, Elijah Dotson, and their Tigers take on the Saline Hornets in a show of support for the “Keep Bryce Underwood and Elijah Dotson home” Hailgate Tailgate. pic.twitter.com/jjszE28WKt
— Local 4 WDIV Detroit (@Local4News) November 8, 2024
In the end, LSU will win out while Michigan will be left holding the bag
While Michigan is putting together an insane offer to keep Bryce Underwood home its for a reason. The Wolverines don't have a realistic shot at landing Underwood thanks to their run heavy system and need to overhaul their offense to give Underwood a shot at being successful. In the end, Joe Sloan has built a great relationship with Underwood and the belief that LSU can develop him into a Heisman Winner and a top NFL Draft pick is going to be more important than short term NIL Money.