The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 9 BY ANTHONY BROOME A new player has entered the name, image and likeness (NIL) space as- sociated with the University of Michi- gan in the Hail! Impact initiative, which launched officially on March 31. With so many balls in the air with dif- ferent collectives in the space, Hail! Im- pact seeks to be something different. The organization has the support of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh and university president Santa J. Ono, who have given their individual endorsements to the new project as it is rolled out. "To attract and retain top talent, you need to have a strong NIL program," co- founder Chin Weerappuli said during a presentation at the event. "We want to be transformational, but we also want to be amongst the best in the country to have those Saturdays that we've been having the last couple of years." The idea is to take the transformational approach Harbaugh has discussed pub- licly in terms of what players can get out of his program, but to mix it with com- munity-based impact work that provides stipends of $40,000 to each scholarship player on the football team. Eventually, the group wants to support the other ath- letic programs at U-M. Hail! Impact is different because it is a nonprofit organization with pending 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, meaning that donors could receive tax benefits and incentives for contributing to the cause. From there, athletes will be placed with community organizations for volunteer- based assignments and work that could also help fund those respective groups, including The Humane Society of Huron Valley, Ele's Place, Hope Clinic and Peace Neighborhood center, with more to come. The U-M Ross School of Business also will be involved in the endeavor. There are three pillars to the Hail! Im- pact program that student-athletes will have to meet. First, they are asking for a 24-hour commitment to volunteer proj- ects that athletes could exceed with ser- vice to qualified nonprofit organizations. Weerappuli does not believe this is a dif- ficult ask given that Michigan players by and large have asked for more opportuni- ties. Players will also be asked to take part in a "Leaders and Best" seminar series, where they would attend a set of classes in conjunction with U-M's business and law schools. The triple-pronged approach between those entities and the football program is a potentially powerful mix. The third and final pillar is a 1- to 2-page report by players to the coaching staff to summarize their experience and what they get out of it. This will allow the coaches to learn about the work being done, and for the organization to collect feedback on the process and experience. Hail! Impact is seeking a $5 million an- nual fund to make the stipends happen. The organization states that 70 percent of the funds would go directly to the players, 20 percent to the organizations they work with and 10 percent to operating costs. Michigan players have shown a willing- ness to participate in community-based work but have struggled to manage the opportunities with full-time commit- ments to school and football. Hail! Impact is positioning itself to be a mediator be- tween athletes and partner organizations. Hail! Impact is still seeking the offi- cial endorsement from the university and athletics director Warde Manuel. "We're going to do what we can control, which is create the most transparent and impactful program out there," Weerappuli told The Wolverine. "I have a great rela- tionship with Coach Harbaugh. I think it's because he understands that I'm not in this for any personal gain [and] when I worked for him last season, I basically worked for free. … "We're not going to pretend that having an official endorsement wouldn't mean the world for us; it absolutely would. We're going to strive for that. … We're not asking for the reroute of funding. We're just simply asking that, if someone is looking to donate to NIL and wants the community aspect, that there's trust be- hind our name and trust that we earned with Michigan athletics." ❑ ❱ Inside Michigan ATHLETICS 'Hail! Impact' Seeks To Bring Something Different To NIL At Michigan A new, nonprofit NIL collective 'Hail! Impact' was launched March 31 by (left to right) board member Mike Leach and co-founders Chin Weerappuli and Andy Johnson. PHOTO BY CARYN JOHNSON NIL COLLECTIVES SUPPORTING U-M ATHLETES Ann Arbor NIL Club Champions Circle MGoDAO Stadium & Main # Hail! Impact # # — 501(c)(3) non-profits