Like it or not, your college will tie you to a region, by the contacts you make and the network that university has in the area.
The state of Michigan has a terrible economy. The population has decreased by 1 million since 2005. It's a state trending in the wrong direction for a few decades now .
Tennessee is much better suited to help this guy out after his time with football has ended. Nashville is thriving, the whole state is doing relatively well, and let's not discount the fact that it isn't ridiculously cold and gloomy 8 months of the year.