The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1504445
AUGUST 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 19 NIL deals. It's an in-house football initia- tive that works with various stakehold- ers — collectives, donors, businesses and athletes — to maximize NIL for Michigan players and facilitate fundraising by the collectives along the way. At one event, Partridge likened it to Blockbuster Video — it's great to be on top, he noted, but if you're not prepared, it's not going to last. To get there, they need more support from the boosters, and that's been a work in progress. The hope — and the message — is that it will help U-M eventually win out over the programs that are handing out money to high school recruits who are unproven and may not pan out. Player retention and the portal will be key in this, as well. This year, the "One More Year" campaign spearheaded by the sports marketing agency Valiant Manage- ment Group, for example, helped bring senior running back Blake Corum, guards Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter, graduate student receiver Cor- nelius Johnson and others back for a final season at Michigan. Currently, though, a lot of the money be- ing raised appears to be for the Champions Circle NIL collec- tive to help fund the Michigan walk-ons and players promised money beyond the scholarship limit. Valiant Management Group runs Champions Circle as well. The Hail! Impact collective's campaign is also in the mix, though it's more about the "base pay" model for players, keep- ing in mind that anything made will be earned, not given. Several more of the significant Michi- gan donors are starting to get engaged with the M Power initiative, but as of July 18, there was still a lot of work to do to get Michigan's major donors fully on board. In some ways, the Wolverines are still playing catch-up, and they need more financial support to get there. Michigan junior quarterback J.J. Mc- Carthy added his plea in the video to help get more people to participate. "My coaches and teammates have helped me to be my best on the field, but Michigan always encourages us to be our absolute best off the field, as well," Mc- Carthy said. "With more and more busi- nesses and branding opportunities avail- able to us athletes, the launch of M Power will help me maximize my full potential off the field, while still allowing me to be the best teammate I can be." MAKING STRIDES The promise of M Power and the plan has helped get the 2024 recruiting class off to a great start. As of July 24, the Wolverines had the No. 5-ranked class nationally with 26 pledges, including 12 four-star prospects, per On3.com. While there's still work to do, the collec- tives have been picking up steam, espe- cially the Champions Circle. "Things have really been moving in a very positive direction, especially over the last three or four months," Valiant's Jared Wangler said. "There's been more interest from donors, from corporate partners … and obviously, it's bleeding over into re- cruiting, which is awesome. I feel like the coaches are on really good footing now with NIL, knowing how and what to com- municate to these kids." The players have been extremely recep- tive, he added, and "great to work with." There's a lot of positive momentum stem- ming from it — recruits talk, of course — and the official launch of the Champi- ons Circle website has made it easier for more donors to get involved. Now, Wangler said, it's about getting the word out on what the collective has been doing for the last year and a half and how people can get involved. For the coaches, it's twofold. Harbaugh has led the charge in trying to line up do- nors, but he also has to convince recruits M Power will work for them. Part of that is showing how current players are ben- efiting. "The pitch and communication is about what's taking place for the current roster — what kind of opportunities play- ers have at any position, what sort of deals are taking place," Wangler said. "And the earning targets for those guys are com- parable to what you're seeing around the country, which is awesome. "If you share info about where your starting quarterback, running back, right tackle are … that sells. Not only that, you're actually able to show them tangi- bly how it's done versus around the coun- try, where you're seeing at other schools their pitch to start was just telling them a number. The kids have no idea where the number comes from or how it's even NIL." What they're most proud of, he added, is that the marketing deals the Michigan players are getting, whether through tra- ditional brand partnerships or through the Champions Circle subletting an NIL partnership, are legitimate. NIL was meant to reward kids with opportunities, not just hand out money. Hail! Impact, Stadium & Main and the other collectives continue to work for the student-athletes as long as they earn it, which is how it's supposed to be. That's how it will remain, Wangler said. "That part of it has been really encourag- ing, and it's beneficial for the student-ath- letes," he said. "Es- pecially now with the transfer portal — you initially saw a lot of young coaches and staffs just throwing money and numbers to the kids without any idea if they were actually going to be able to fulfill it." That results in broken promises and a lot of transfers, Wangler noted, and it's been prevalent around the country. That hasn't been the case at Michigan, a landing spot the last few years for many elite transfers. Kids talk, Harbaugh noted, and word is out that culture and strategy certainly can pay off. Again — the Wolverines still need more booster support. But M Power is in its early stages and trending in a posi- tive direction. The hope is that along with the U-M collectives, it soon it will be the blueprint for NIL done right, and they ap- pear to be off to a good start. ❏ M POWER — BRAND FOR LIFE To learn more about the University of Mich- igan football's 'M Power' initiative and the NIL collectives supporting U-M athletes, go to www.MGoBlue.com/MPower. For questions, email brandforlife@umich.edu. ❱ Jim Harbaugh "At Michigan football, we believe strongly in helping our stu- dent-athletes become the best version of themself on and off the field. While we strive for championships on the field today, we feel the same strong obligation to compete to be and de- velop the strongest leaders of tomorrow."