Jim Harbaugh Talks NIL, Addresses Whether Michigan Is Going to Pay Recruits

Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh is a fan of the newly passed NIL, which allows student-athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness. That said, he's committed to offering a "transformational, not transactional" environment for players and isn't willing to "pay recruits to sign here."

Speaking on the Jed Hughes Podcast (via on3.com), Harbaugh talked about his positive feelings towards the NIL.

“Before we jump to how it can be exploited in a bad way — as we all know, human nature, that’s something that is definitely a possibility … I think we can all agree, take jersey sales for example, or T-shirts, memorabilia, those kinds of things that every school has, every school has the bookstore or the shop where fans’ orders can go to buy their gear. It makes sense that the player whose number is on that jersey, their name is on that jersey, should share in that revenue,” Harbaugh said. “That example right there, I think, we all agree on. Also, to profit off their name, their image and their likeness, I support it. You just support anybody’s ability to do that. That’s all in the positive light and the way we’re approaching things here at Michigan.”

But, Harbaugh says he won't engage in inducements to bring teams to Michigan.

I’ve said this before, we’re going to still maintain that this is going to be a transformational experience, not a transactional experience,” Harbaugh said. “What that literally means exactly is, we’re not going to pay signing bonuses for players to come onto the team. We’re not going to pay recruits to sign here. When they get here and they do well, they’re going to profit pretty good here off of the jersey sales and other examples. Simply put, that’s how I feel about it and what our policy is here. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s not the way to do it.”