Report says Michigan led the B1G with a $577,663 football recruiting budget in 2011
Football recruiting costs money. A lot of money, actually.
And in 2011, few schools in the country spent money on luring newcomers to its campus than the Michigan football program.
According to research compiled by ESPN.com on Tuesday, Michigan spent $577,663 on recruiting in 2011, a number that ranked No. 1 overall in the Big Ten and No. 11 nationally.
According to the report, Michigan's recruiting budget climbed $88,251 from 2010, ex-coach Rich Rodriguez's last year with the program.
Illinois was second in the Big Ten last year with a recruiting bill of $545,363, while Nebraska was third at $478,554.
The report did not include information from either Penn State, who does not have to submit information due to Pennsylvania's absence of open record laws, and Northwestern, a private institution.
Michigan State spent $383,448, according to the report, while Ohio State spent $320,938. Interestingly enough, defending champion Wisconsin was at the bottom of the list with a budget of $204,181.
Tennessee -- who went 5-7 a year ago -- led the country by nearly $500,000 with an overall 2011 recruiting budget of $1.47 million.
Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.
Comments
Wally the Wolverine
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 10:03 p.m.
Explains why DB said there wasn't any money to send the marching band down to the Jerry Dome.
MRunner73
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 1:24 p.m.
The competition for major colleges to recruit the top high school players continues to ramp up. For Michigan, this is money well spent. Brady Hoke explained that it isn't all about the star rating from Scout or Rivals.com, but the character of the recruit that will fit into the fold at Michigan.
81wolverine
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 1:24 a.m.
Comment: Someone missed the word "more" in the 2nd sentence. I can't believe OSU spent only $320K considering they recruit nationwide also. Wisconsin I can believe. They stick much more locally and try to develop under-the-radar prospects (which they're awfully good at) vs. trying to compete with the big boys for national prospects.
Tru2Blu76
Tue, Jun 12, 2012 : 10:18 p.m.
Just goes to show (thank goodness), Money doesn't always talk (to recruits). Tennessee at the top with $1.47 million in spending on recruitment: what are they actually doing with that money? I can understand why these top spending programs are doing it: it's the intention to leave no stone unturned in the effort to keep that football program at or near the top. But maybe they'll catch on to the realization that they can't buy national championships. It's a bad practice: the first sign of success will create a race among schools to just throw money at their football programs. Odd note: Pennsylvania has no open record laws for state institutions?? What are the citizens of Pennsylvania thinking??