Michigan football recruiting: How NIL affected signing day drama

ANN ARBOR – National signing day has always been an opportunity for college coaches to celebrate a new wave of players entering their program.

But in the current name, image and likeness-driven landscape of NCAA football, signing day also is one of the most stressful days of the year for coaches.

This signing day was no different, with dozens of prospects in the 2026 class having a late change of heart about their college choices just before putting pen to paper to make their verbal commitments official.

Michigan and head coach Sherrone Moore weren’t immune to this year’s signing day chaos. The Wolverines had 28 commits entering last Wednesday, the start of the early signing window, but only signed 27 recruits after some late reshuffling in the class.

The drama began Wednesday morning when Mansfield (Texas) four-star receiver pledge Zion Robinson announced he was “postponing signing until further notice.”

According to 247Sports’ Mike Roach, Stanford made an aggressive NIL play for Robinson. The school, which has had five straight losing seasons, successfully flipped the top-200 prospect on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Mineral (Va.) Louisa County five-star running back Savion Hiter, the crown jewel of Michigan’s class, didn’t sign on Wednesday. The delay sparked intense speculation on fan message boards about Hiter’s status, but Michigan was able to seal the deal Thursday morning.

According to Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong, Hiter, the top-ranked running back in the country per the 247Sports Composite, didn’t sign Wednesday because of “minor contractual details.”

The signing period fireworks didn’t end there. Michigan also lost Irmo (S.C.) Dutch Fork four-star edge Julian Walker to South Carolina on Thursday as the top-100 recruit chose to play for his hometown school where his father is on staff, but Moore’s program countered with a major move of its own.

It flipped Cartersville (Ga.) four-star receiver Brady Marchese from Georgia, adding a new top-150 wideout to its 2026 recruiting haul.

Moore was asked during a news conference Monday how much NIL has impacted late flips on signing day.

“It’s definitely out there,” Moore said. “It’s definitely a thing. It’s something you can’t ignore and you have to have a plan for it, and you have to adapt to it, because, yeah, that’s part of it. You think you got somebody signed, and then somebody shoots out something (other schools offering more in the NIL space), or does something, and you’ve got it cemented of what you’ve all agreed to, and all those other things, all those other pieces that are part of college football now, but that’s just college football now. You’ve got to adjust and you’ve got to adapt.”

More than ever before, roster construction in college football is driven by NIL funding. Not only is it prevalent in recruiting high school prospects, but also players in the transfer portal and retaining players on the current roster.

The biggest difference between high school recruiting and the portal is the timelines. Prep prospects can commit to a school at any time, but that verbal pledge doesn’t become binding until the player signs with the school. For example, Robinson and Walker were both committed to Michigan since last summer before flipping. Marchese was pledged to Georgia since March.

The portal is a more condensed timeline. The two-week window opens Jan. 2, and prospects usually try and find a new home quickly so they can enroll at their new schools in time for the start of a fresh semester.

Moore said Michigan is prepared.

“The big thing about the portal is not only getting the right fit, but the relationship,” he said. “Obviously, the right player, but people that fit the program, the people that fit the culture, the people that fit involved in the program. You’ve got to be ready. We’re on it. We’ve been on it. You’ve got to stay on it.

“You’ve got to have lists ready to go. Obviously, you can’t talk to the kids until they get in it. So, we’ve got to do everything we can to be prepared for that. From a financial basis, all that is a piece of it, right? We’ve got to make sure we’ve got a plan for all of it, and we do.”