The general belief among the Michigan fan base (and even some within the Michigan media) is that U-M’s NIL philosophy is hurting the Wolverines on the recruiting trail. It’s clear that the University of Michigan has no interest in participating in the “pay-for-play” tactics being used in other parts of the country, but is the “you’ll get what you earn” approach the best way to go about business in today’s era of college athletics?

NIL became an official part of colligate athletics on July 1, 2021. Prior to that time, the University of Michigan was routinely battling for the top spot in the B10 recruiting rankings with Ohio State and Penn State. More often than not, the Wolverines would finish in 2nd place within the conference during Harbaugh’s tenure in Ann Arbor. After NIL went into effect, Michigan’s philosophy didn’t seem to hurt or help on the recruiting trail – with the Wolverines finishing third in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Perhaps the reason for the concern today is that Michigan currently sits at No. 12 within the conference for the 2025 class, which is particularly concerning given the fact that the Wolverines are coming off of a National Championship season.

For reference, here are the last 10 recruiting cycles for the Michigan Wolverines (and their ranking within the Big Ten Conference) according to 247Sports:

• 2016: No. 2 (1 five-star, 13 four-star)
• 2017: No. 2 (2 five-star, 19 four-star)
• 2018: No. 3 (0 five-star, 7 four-star)
• 2019: No. 1 (2 five-star, 15 four-star)
• 2020: No. 2 (0 five-star, 17 four-star)
• 2021: No. 2 (1 five-star, 22 four-star)
• 2022: No. 3 (1 five-star, 9 four-star)
• 2023: No. 3 (0 five-star, 11 four-star)
• 2024: No. 3 (0 five-star, 17 four-star)
• 2025: No. 12 (0 five-star, 5 four-star)

Obviously one of these years does not look like the others.

Although you’d obviously like to see the recruiting ranking higher for the 2025 class, perspective is also key when trying to determine why Michigan is currently ranked in the bottom half of the conference.

The most obvious impact is the fact that Michigan lost head coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, along with a majority of the defensive staff – most notably defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. It’s extremely rare for a college football program to lose its head coach the year after winning a national championship (something that hasn’t happened in over 25 years), so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that it’s having an impact on recruiting.

Harbaugh’s departure led to Sherrone Moore becoming the 21st head coach in Michigan Football history, and Moore had to rebuild much of the staff from the ground up. In fact, only three other members from Harbaugh’s staff in 2023 remain in Ann Arbor – OC/QB coach Kirk Campbell, WR coach Ron Bellamy, OL coach Grant Newsome. Moore went out and hired seven new members to /his staff, and although all of those guys have impressive resumes, its obviously going to take time to develop relationships with kids on the recruiting trail.

Another major factor is that the Big Ten Conference recently expanded from 14 to 18 teams, and three of the four newcomers from the Pac 12 – USC, UCLA, and Oregon – are currently ahead of the Wolverines in the recruiting rankings. It’s certainly not an excuse for Michigan to be in the bottom half of the conference, but adding in four new premier programs will definitely have an impact on the overall rankings.

So, is Michigan’s approach to NIL really having that much of an impact on recruiting rankings, or are other factors (like replacing an entire coaching staff) having much more of an impact. The answer would seem to be the latter, particularly when looking at rankings after NIL went into effect.

With nearly seven months until the early signing period, there’s plenty of time for Michigan to make its case on the recruiting trail – and the best way to do that is by winning football games on Saturdays. My hunch is that the Wolverines will eventually work themselves into the top five within the conference when the final rankings are solidified, which would be pretty damn impressive considering all of the major changes that took place in Ann Arbor this off-season.