Michigan’s deal with Altius follows an industry-wide trend of bringing NIL strategy under the direction of an in-house general manager or NIL director. The ideal candidate will be a person with relationships in the NIL marketplace who can work with coaches, athletes, sponsors and collectives on a unified strategy, said Casey Schwab, CEO of Altius.

“That person is going to be a senior leader on Michigan’s campus, living in Ann Arbor, and being the center of the wheel for all things NIL,” Schwab said.

Michigan will also add a senior manager of business development through its partnership with Learfield, Michigan’s multimedia rights holder. Learfield represents a portfolio of brands that seek to partner with college athletes on NIL deals.

The upshot is that Michigan will have people who specialize in NIL working out of the athletic department to maximize the money that’s available to Michigan athletes, both through sponsorship deals and contributions to Champions Circle and other Michigan-affiliated collectives.

“We’re going to be business partners with all of the collectives that support Michigan,” Schwab said. “Our job is to maximize opportunities for all student athletes at the University of Michigan.”

One benefit of the general manager position is the ability to adapt quickly to changes in NIL rules, Schwab said. NCAA president Charlie Baker introduced a proposal in December that would allow schools to provide direct payments to athletes, something Manuel said could become a reality in the near future.

Michigan has been more deliberate in its approach to NIL than other schools, but every school is playing catch-up to some degree. Manuel said Michigan spent months working on its partnership with Altius to make sure it was taking the right long-term approach.

“Some of these other schools have had all these stops and starts,” Schwab said. “I would caution anybody from using the phrase ‘behind in NIL’ because it’s changing by the week.”