The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529264
66 THE WOLVERINE ❱ DECEMBER 2024 N othing moves the needle in views on a Michigan football website like news of interest from a five-star recruit. That's espe- cially true when it's an elite quarter- back prospect who's 15 minutes down the road. We're talking about Belleville (Mich.) High standout Bryce Underwood, of course, the consensus top player in the 2025 class and an LSU commit. Despite another recent trip to bayou country when some believe he further solidi- fied his pledge even after he witnessed Alabama embarrass the Tigers on their own field to a rain of boos, Michigan hasn't given up. "Michigan's push for Bryce Under- wood is real," our E.J. Holland reported in early November. "Sherrone Moore is personally recruiting Underwood. … Michigan has already put together that [NIL] package and is willing to increase it based on what LSU does. "… There are still some factors work- ing for LSU. I think the money is go- ing to be the most important factor, but there are others." Development and supporting cast, for example, are two areas in which Un- derwood has given LSU high marks. He told On3 in June watching the growth of Tigers quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier was bringing him "closer and closer" to the program to which he pledged last year. As for the money? We all know it talks. But even there, we have Under- wood on record saying, "My main goal is the NFL … first draft pick. Money is going to be the last thing I'm thinking about until I get to the league." Actions, too, are almost always most telling, and Underwood's seem to speak volumes. His official visit to LSU for the Nov. 9 weekend was the latest to the only campus he's visited in a football capacity since his January 2024 pledge. But credit the group of boosters who now at least seem to understand what some in positions of leadership at Michigan didn't, and what got us here … "here" being one of the worst showings this century by a defending national champion. They were slow to adapt, and now the reticent ones are like the people who choose to ride out the major hur- ricane, only to find themselves stranded on their roofs in need of help … in this case, from those with money cannons, not boats. Let's be clear, too. Underwood isn't a one-man fix, and he can't be the sole focus. One program insider told us re- cently they felt they needed "15 to 20 players from the portal" to contribute to next year's team to make a big leap, whether they get Underwood or not. Offensive line, receiver, cornerback and defensive line are going to all need at- tention, and those are the highest-com- manding positions when it comes to NIL money in addition to quarterback. If they get Underwood (a huge if) and start him as a freshman, he's going to need a much better supporting cast than this year's. The higher his price tag, the less there is for others. It's somewhat of a catch-22, and why Moore, general manager Sean Magee and the others putting together next year's U-M roster have been working on this for a while now. Is it Underwood and an average cast, or do they get a very good QB from the portal for less money and upgrade the talent around him sig- nificantly with the cash they saved? Either way, there's a lot to prove, and the talent isn't the only issue here. As we've seen, championship talent still needs championship-level coaching, too, and guys who get the most out of their players. There's still — unbelievably — a group, for example, that thinks Rich Rodriguez would have had the same success in 2011 that Brady Hoke did, despite Rodriguez's opinion of defense as a necessary evil. Say what you want about Greg Matti- son as a traitorous defector — you won't get much argument here — but the for- mer Hoke defensive coordinator was as big a reason as any for the Wolver- ines' 11-2 season. He patched together a group of guys that then-TV-analyst Chris Spielman referred to as [defensive tackle] "Mike Martin and a lot of guys who would be nice little subs at Indi- ana," and had them playing above their heads. Does Moore have the supporting cast he needs to get the most out of his tal- ent? We'll find out after he makes his offseason moves, but there have been some red flags when it comes to devel- opment and fundamentals. We'd love to see Underwood in maize and blue, surrounded by great talent. More than anything, we want to see a very good, well-coached team with ample talent at all positions and enough difference-makers to compete. We've seen it before — after all, look at the last three years. At Michigan, that shouldn't be too much to ask. ❏ Michigan is making a late push for Belleville (Mich.) High quarterback Bryce Underwood, the nation's consensus top player in the 2025 class who has been committed to LSU since January. PHOTO BY BILLY EMBODY/ON3 Chris Balas has been with The Wolverine since 1997. Contact him at cbalas@ thewolverine.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @Balas _ Wolverine. INSIDE MICHIGAN ❱ CHRIS BALAS Fix Is Bigger Than One Recruit