What Bryce Underwood's Commitment Means for Michigan - And CFB

Tyler Stearns |

After months of pushing, the Michigan Wolverines were finally able to flip local QB Bryce Underwood. Underwood isn't just some prospect, though. He is the number one QB in the nation and has drawn comparisons to Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, some high praise for a player who hasn't taken a college snap yet. The Belleville product committed to LSU in January of this year and shut down any attempts that major programs made to flip him. However, in the past few weeks, reports showed that Michigan's NIL fund mustered up $10.5 million to give to Underwood over the next four years. But again, he led us to believe he would shut down those rumors and keep his commitment to the Tigers. He even posted a picture of a former Michigan commit who flipped to LSU on his Instagram story, and reposted a post stating that he was "likely to decline Michigan's offer."

Bryce Underwood, Via Maize n Brew

But yesterday, things changed. On a day when three top-tier QBs flipped to new schools (Julian Lewis to Colorado from USC and Kevin Sperry to Florida State from Oklahoma), Underwood changed his mind and flipped his commitment to his hometown school. Michigan fans rejoiced. And Brian Kelly's seat got hotter, considering this commitment was one of the few things keeping him in his job as of this year.

Some may look at this commitment and say that Sherrone Moore is turning Michigan back into the powerhouse we knew from 2021-2024. But no, this recruitment was not a result of the onfield product and culture at Michigan. It is a result of the 10.5 million dollars offered to him, and that's a dangerous precedent to set. If top-tier programs can now just throw wild amounts of money at recruits to get them to commit, then the parity that the Transfer Portal has offered to the sport is going to die soon. Of course, NIL has been around for the same amount of time, but the issues with it have been mostly with the top-tier transfer portal players. But rarely have see seen bidding wars for high school recruits. And yes, it is Naive to say that five-star players aren't making millions of dollars either. We know that it's true when we see reports out of Eugene that the Ducks have access to unlimited NIL, or when reports come out of Colombus that their roster costs $13 million. But never have we seen such a public affair of this kind in CFB. Even with some of the nation's top recruits trying to decide on their school, there is a level of discreteness amongst high school players in comparison to college transfers. But that is no longer the case. Public bidding wars will occur, and you can flip a five-star from the school he's committed to for the small sum of $10+ million. The NCAA has to add some parameters around the sport or it will get even more out of hand.