Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy perhaps bit off more than he thought when he pledged to pay up to $3 million for a quarterback for his alma mater, the University of Michigan.
And much like how Portnoy prefers to operate, he’s going to do things his way.
Portnoy doesn’t want to deal with any collectives and he wants to essentially get in and get out — finding the Wolverines the best transfer (or recruit) and let Michigan football handle it. But he doesn’t want it to be a whole thing with multiple parties involved.
“My problem with the NIL, besides it’s a lot of money just to kind of throw out the window, but I’m willing to, like do it,” Dave Portnoy said. “I do not want to talk to other people. I don’t want to — I am not trying to get in the middle of the NIL, I do not want people I don’t know calling me, I don’t want to talk to this guy. I don’t want emails from that guy. I don’t want any of that. I don’t want any of that.”
And with that in mind, Portnoy won’t be fielding any calls from Champions Circle or State and Main or any of the other collectives. He says that he will only cooperate with head coach Sherrone Moore and only on this.
“I had Daniella, my assistant, ‘Someone at Michigan wants —,’ no. I don’t want to talk to any of you,” Portnoy said. “I talked to Sherrone. I talked to him. I have his number, we talked. He told me the one guy I got to talk to. One guy to talk to, I’ve not talked to that person. I will, and then we’ll see.”
The news of his pledge certainly rocked the internet. And though many ask what does that mean about Michigan’s current quarterback situation, like with any other school that plays NIL, that bridge can be crossed when Portnoy and the Wolverines arrive there.