Is CFB moving toward celebrities buying stars for their alma mater?
Disgusted with Michigan’s quarterback play so far this season, alum Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports, who has a net worth reportedly in the hundreds of millions, is offering the school an interesting NIL proposal.
“Here’s what I’m offering to the University of Michigan,” Portnoy said on his podcast.
“I have (coach) Sherrone Moore’s cell phone. I’m going to text him this. I don’t know how it works with NIL. I don’t know how much I trust the Michigan NIL and all this stuff. I will be the quarterback guy for Michigan. Every single year I will make sure we have a quarterback. I will go into the portal myself.
“I will be the quarterback guy. I’ll talk to Sherrone, ‘Who do you guys want, give me a group, I’ll go get them.’ I’ll go sign them, $1 million, $2 million, whatever it is.”
Pressed on how much Portnoy would be willing to spend, Barstool’s owner said up to $3 million through a marketing agreement where said quarterback would do hits on Barstool shows throughout the week.
Portnoy, who’s known to wager vast sums sports betting, horse betting and who became infamous for day trading during the COVID lockdown, said he’s not planning to just give away money.
He also wants to have a say on which quarterback Michigan recruits whether through the portal or through regular high school recruiting.
“I can get a quarterback,” Portnoy said. “We don’t have a quarterback. I’m going to get us a top-10 quarterback in the portal coming out every year.”
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Is this the next big thing in NIL deals – multi-millionaires in the media space or elsewhere hand-picking players or having a much bigger say in recruiting? Or is this just guys shooting the bull on a podcast about Michigan’s poor quarterback play?
Coming off a national championship but replacing some serious talent, especially at quarterback, former walk-on Davis Warren started the season but in three games he threw just two touchdowns with six interceptions.
Orji became the starter but does not seem like the long-term answer because he’s not much of a passing threat. Michigan averages just 122.8 passing yards per game and its opponents average more than double against the Wolverines.
“I don’t know if Michigan would let me do it,” Portnoy said. “I’m not going to cut them a check and have nothing to do with how that money is spent.
“I’m not going to let us be Alex Orji’d again if I could stop it.”
