Michigan Football: 3 Thoughts on Rocco Spindler choosing Notre Dame

The worst fear of Michigan football fans came true Saturday as Rocco Spindler, a long-time recruiting target, committed to Notre Dame.

While it seemed like it was inevitable that Rocco Spindler would choose Notre Dame, after the way everything was trending this week, it was a dagger to the heart of Michigan football fans.

The loss of Spindler to the Irish is the loss of one of Michigan’s top priorities in the 2021 recruiting cycle. Donovan Edwards is still out there, as well as Rayshaun Benny and offensive lineman Drew Kendall, but missing on Spindler was a big deal.

It’s hard to say what caused Spindler to choose the Irish over Michigan. The Wolverines worked really hard to establish a relationship there and to be honest, I don’t think there is another thing they could have done to try and win this recruitment.

Notre Dame just offered a different allure to Spindler. If the decision was up to his father, it probably would have been the Wolverines. He said he envisioned Rocco as a Michigan football offensive lineman.

But things don’t always work out. The entire Michigan staff seemed to do everything it possibly could to earn Rocco’s commitment and while some will use this to say negative things about the way U-M recruits the state, there’s no doubt Spindler was a huge priority.

He just decided to go somewhere else. Michigan can still recover and when it comes to takeaways, that’s where we will begin.

Gotta get Kendall

Missing out on Spindler is a big deal and even though the Wolverines are in prime position to land another four-star offensive guard in Kendall, it doesn’t make up for losing Spindler. It helps though.

Kendall is ranked as the No. 4 guard in the 2021 recruiting class according to Rivals and eighth according to the 247 composite rankings.

Word was that Kendall didn’t want to be part of a four-man interior offensive line class and was waiting on Rocco to make a decision. Now that Rocco has chosen Notre Dame, all attention will shift to Kendall who has said he wants to commit sooner rather than later.

His timeline was the end of July, but then Spindler said he would decide Aug. 8.

I’d expect a full-court press now, which J.J. McCarthy started Friday. The Wolverines are the favorite and if they get Kendall, it will be four offensive linemen rated as four-star recruits and three on the interior.

That’s a really good group and while Rocco may have been the best, Michigan can still achieve a great offensive line class in 2021.

Anther in-state blow

There is no way to sugarcoat that not winning Spindler’s recruitment is going to hurt. It’s not going to derail all the momentum the Wolverines have built with 19 commitments since March, but it doesn’t help.

And even though Michigan is in a strong position for Donovan Edwards, the No. 2 recruit in the state, as well as Rayshaun Benny, the No. 6 (according to 247 composite), missing out on three of the top five recruits in the state doesn’t look great.

It looked like for a long time that Michigan would be able to get Spindler or Garrett Dellinger. Now, even though the Wolverines generally do a better job of recruiting in-state prospects than most, as Scott Bell astutely points out,  this will still be used negatively.

My biggest concern is how it will impact both Edwards and Benny. Edwards said he wanted to play with Spindler and while I don’t think this makes Notre Dame a threat in that recruiting battle, it surely won’t help.

Michigan can still have a great 2021 class

This one will sting, especially because I feel like Spindler is going to follow in the line of recent Notre Dame first-round picks.

Had he gone to Michigan, I could see him following the path of Cesar Ruiz, who was the No. 1 center in the country when he committed. Ruiz began starting halfway through his freshman season and ended up as a first-rounder.

I expect no less from Spindler. I think he could have developed really well under Ed Warinner, but, Kendall can be really good too, he just will need more time to develop his body especially. Right now, he’s 6-foot-4, 260 pounds compared to Spindler who is 6-foot-5, 315.

However, in the big picture, if Michigan is able to get Kendall, Edwards, Benny and George Rooks, another recruitment that U-M leads according to expert predictions, that’s still 15 four-star recruits in one class, as well as four on the offensive line.

There is still some significant work to do in the next few weeks, especially with Benny and Edwards. While the in-state recruiting narrative isn’t really fair, it will get worse if Michigan misses out on those two. And the 2021 class, which looks promising, would be a little disappointing.