Bryce Underwood Decommitment Rumors Force Michigan Insider to Break Silence as Suspended Sherrone Moore Learns His Fate

“That’s not gonna happen,” insisted Belleville coach Calvin Norman in June last year. Coach believed there won’t be a change of heart; the No. 1 quarterback in his class, Bryce Underwood, was LSU’s to celebrate. But unlike his predecessor, Jim Harbaugh, who didn’t believe in bidding wars for recruits, Sherone Moore pulled one of the biggest recruiting wins. Neither the last season’s 5-5 downturn on the field nor the embarrassment to the program that comes with blood-thirsty NCAA gawking at Michigan ever since Harbaugh was suspended mattered after all. The only thing that did matter in the end was some serious allocation of NIL resources that dared Underwood to consider a flip in November. And flip, he did!

Sherone Moore called that ‘vision.’

“I think they understand the vision that we explain to them and what this is going to be like,” Moore said of players considering Michigan. “It’s been pretty positive. We’ve gotten some good commitments, some good guys to join the family, and we’re looking to continue that trend.” As was their wish, with a flashy $12 million deal at hand, Bryce immediately became the face of the program, but lest we forget, the Wolverines have already been in a recovery phase for a scandal that took place two years ago. Even after a self-imposed ban of two games, HC Sherrone Moore is not out of the woods. Translation? The NCAA is yet to announce its verdict, with a hearing scheduled for June 6-7. If that wasn’t bad enough, there’s a new buzz that may jeopardize the Wolverines’ championship hunt.

Although it’s not official yet, Underwood is already considered to start under center for Michigan. However, with the ghosts of the past that make the scouting scandal re-relevant again and again, many doubt if Underwood would reconsider his Michigan decision, or worse, go back to LSU? Insider James Yoder of Michigan Football Report reacted to some crazy theories. Apparently, Underwood and his mom were reportedly on a flight to Baton Rouge, back to LSU, for some respite. The other being, Michigan is unable to pay him his due of $12 million as a result of the scandal. Well, Yoder dismissed them all as baseless:

“[These] are about as wild and, you know, kind of cherry-picked, insane rumors that you can only get in college football.” He likened the situation to an equally absurd picture. Consider LeBron James signing with the Mavericks because he was seen at a 7/11 in Dallas. “Ohio State podcasters will go and do an entire segment on whether Michigan can’t get the NIL dollars because they’re putting a pause on it, because of the Connor Stalions and the Sherrone Moore suspension, NCAA sanctions looming come June 6th, June 7th, June 8th. And they’re not paying Bryce Underwood the first instalments they had. I think it’s crazy,” he added.

Imaginations have no limits, and fans have let theirs run wild. However, there is still the threat of a strong blowback from the NCAA, which doesn’t just stop at Sherrone Moore. The blot made by the sign-stealing scandal seems to now leave a permanent stain on Michigan football.

Bryce Underwood fears aside, Sherrone Moore has other things to worry about

Josh Pate was candid about what he thought was headed for Michigan. Jim Harbaugh and Connor Stalions, though fired, still stand a chance of show-cause penalties. The sign-stealing allegation entailed Moore deleting a thread of 52 text messages the same day Stalions was reported to have organized a system to crack the playcalling signals of opposing teams. But if you think Moore being banned for two games in the upcoming season is all that awaits his fate, you’re wrong. It’s just the tip of the iceberg, Pate theorized.

“I haven’t called our friends at the NCAA and asked them, but my best guess on this is Michigan understands something harsher than a two-game suspension for Sherrone Moore is coming. […] I’ll admit the storm clouds on the horizon look a lot darker than they did a month or two ago.” Pate said.

Top Comment by Mychal Rosser

I hope this young man is the goods. He seems to have the talent but all the Hype and controversy...more

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The situation is so muddled at Ann Arbor that nobody can really plan the next steps. Pate imagined the following as the likely mood at Michigan. “‘Guys, they’re going to hit us. We should probably self-impose.’ And then someone else says, ‘Okay, but let’s be real, we don’t really know what they’re going to come at us with. So don’t go impose harsher sanctions than they’re going to come at us with. For all we know, they’re not going to come at us with much.’” Pate had also suspected that the NCAA could also think of placing a bowl-game suspension as a result. That’s a dark place for the top brass to be in.

Considering how Michigan’s future can turn out, it won’t be abnormal to see Underwood jumping ship and going back to LSU, or anywhere else. Players can stand to see their careers come to a standstill, for no fault of theirs. Until that first week of June, nobody can truly say what will become of Michigan. But like Pate figured, is the program slated for further downfall?