In a candid revelation on The Triple Option podcast, Barstool Sports founder and die-hard Michigan fan Dave Portnoy declared he’s washing his hands of further NIL contributions to keep quarterback Bryce Underwood in Ann Arbor.
Portnoy, who last year spearheaded the five-star recruit’s flip from LSU to Michigan amid the Wolverines’ quarterback woes, now draws a firm line.
Dave Portnoy thinks Bryce Underwood would need “Big Balls” if he wanted to renegotiate. @CoachUrbanMeyer @stoolpresidente pic.twitter.com/dqResFx2Ec
— The Triple Option (@3xOptionShow) December 4, 2025
“I’m out of it,” he stated bluntly, reacting to Underwood’s underwhelming performance in Michigan’s recent home loss to Ohio State in The Game. “He’d have to have some big balls to say he wants to renegotiate now. I don’t think that’s coming down the pike. That would be surreal.”
The brash alum’s initial pledge came after a fiery rant on Barstool, vowing to “spend whatever it takes” following Michigan’s middling 5-4 Big Ten start behind Davis Warren. A pivotal meeting with Underwood’s family and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison sealed the deal, but Portnoy insists his role ended there.
With NIL deals as fluid as the transfer portal — echoing Nico Iamaleava’s lucrative jump from Tennessee to UCLA — Portnoy won’t chase deeper pockets.
“If somebody came along and said, ‘Hey Bryce, here’s $20 mill,’ I think he could bounce,” Portnoy mused, acknowledging the Wild West of college football.
Underwood shows no signs of bolting as a true freshman, but Portnoy’s exit signals a shift: Loyalty has limits, even for Maize and Blue fanatics.
