Belleville Quarterback Bryce Underwood is the number one prospect not only in Michigan but in the entire nation. He had an amazing high school career passing for 7,971 yards and over 100 passing touchdowns with only 13 interceptions. Underwood led his team to winning two state championships and two playoff runs where he came up short. He also broke state records including having the most passing and total touchdowns scored in Michigan high school history.
Underwood was committed to the university of LSU on January 6th and since then Michigan had begun to pursue flipping his commitment to get him to go to the University of Michigan. The process wouldn’t be easy though as Michigan would struggle to win games in the regular season starting 5-5 and struggling to get wins every week. Due to NIL, where teams can give the players money from donors, there was still a chance Michigan could pull off the improbable.
Barstool owner Dave Portnoy is a huge Michigan fan and was willing to go out saying he would pay 3 million dollars for Michigan to get a Quarterback but that wouldn’t be enough to fully convince Underwood. Luckily Billionaire Larry Ellison was willing to give money for a Quarterback as well due to his wife being from Michigan University and loving the football program. So, with the two’s money combined they made a 10-million-dollar NIL package being one of the biggest packages ever given to a high school prospect.
Originally fans thought Underwood would stay at LSU, but it didn’t take long before he surprisingly flipped his commitment to Michigan November 21st. Many college football fans believe this only happened due to NIL and being able to pay players causing mixed opinions on what they think about NIL in college football. “I think NIL makes college football more interesting,” Junior Tyler Trotto said, “it shows that money talks.”
Other fans don’t agree with that opinion and think that NIL is hurting the game and making it all about the money and whoever has the most money has the best team. But Sophomore Zach Sharak thinks differently saying, “I think it’s good for college football because it gets players to go to different teams and not all go to powerhouse teams such as Alabama, Georgia, or even Texas.
Fans have also been discussing if paying a young player like Bryce Underwood is too much or if it may not be worth it when you can spread that money out to other players. While this is a very interesting debate many fans believe that it was worth every dime. Junior Chris Palm said, “In my opinion if you have the money to spend on a single player why not go out and pay him 10 million and get the number one player in the nation.”
In all fans are ecstatic to see Bryce Underwood in the Maize and Blue at Michigan after the struggles the team has faced at the position. Junior Brayden Lemley said, “I think Bryce Underwood could be a future NFL great, and I think it puts Michigan back on the path to winning another national championship.” Fans are also hoping that our coaching staff can bring him to the best possible form. Junior Chris Palm said, “I think Bryce Underwood is a very talented and skilled player, and it was shown in high school. I think he will have a great college career if he is utilized in the correct ways.”
