Notre Dame added some weight, literally and figuratively, to the top of its 2021 class today when top 50 offensive lineman Rocco Spindler announced for the Irish at his high school. The 6’5″, 315-pound Michigander became the third top 50 member of Notre Dame’s class today, joining #41 Tyler Buchner and #50 Blake Fisher. Spindler has long been the subject of feverish speculation on message boards for multiple schools; on many Irish boards, he specifically served as a referendum on OL coach Jeff Quinn. Referendum answered, I would say. Pulling an elite prospect from the shadow of Ann Arbor is no small feat. Reportedly his confidence that Quinn would be able to develop him better was a major factor as well. His regular chats with Quenton Nelson probably didn’t hurt either.
Spindler had long intended to take all five of his allowed official visits this fall. However, as the summer progressed and it seemed less and less likely that those visits would ever be a possibility, he relented and pushed up his decision timeline. He still intends to take an official to Notre Dame if he can, but from what I understand he does not intend to use the full allotment of visits. Thankfully.
On to the next chapter of my life!☘️
Edit: @Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/LKGXb9BVH4— Rocco Spindler (@RoccoSpindler92) August 8, 2020
If you’re the type to enjoy a little schadenfreude – and really, with the Skunkbears involved, who isn’t? – go ahead and wander into a Michigan message board of your choice. Dipping into that hellscape will be worth it today.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9752), #48 overall, #3 OG, #3 in MI
247Sports — 4 star (94 rating), #78 overall, #5 OG, #4 in MI
Rivals — 4 star (5.9 rating), #56 overall, #3 OG, #3 in MI
ESPN — 4 star (86 rating), #65 overall, #1 OG, #3 in MI
Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (93 rating)
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame and Michigan, Spindler holds offers from Alabama, Florida, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, and Wisconsin, among others.
Highlights
Well… Rocco certainly likes to hit people. He’s a standout defensive lineman too, and you can see that mentality in the way he plays. He’s very aggressive and very powerful, and apparently loves to put people on the ground. He looks most comfortable in straight-ahead run plays, where he can just fire out and start clobbering guys. He moves very well though, so with a little more discipline I think he can be an effective move blocker as well.
His pass blocking technique needs some work, specifically with his hands. His pass pro footwork is pretty good, which isn’t something you always see in a high school guard. He has a tendency though, at least on this film, to kind of catch pass rushers instead of shooting his hands out to disrupt their initial burst. Athleticism and physicality aren’t a question at all, so I’m sure that something Quinn can help him with.
Impact
The Irish will lose at least three and possibly four linemen after this season, so there will be opportunities for a number of guys to make a move on the depth chart. That said, it’s always a tall order for a true freshman to see the field, and I don’t think it’ll be different for Spindler. He’ll likely need some time to work on technique and conditioning, but once he’s ready, he has a ceiling as a multi-year starter and a really good one. I like the attitude he plays with too and I think he could be a tone-setter for the line.
Welcome to the Irish family, Rocco!
Wow this was quick Brendan!
Awesome get. Two top 50 OL in this class, that’s incredible. Even more satisfying to know Harbaugh is apoplectic seeing this one get away from him.
They said he was a wrestler on the CBS HQ show, surprised his hands aren’t better. But that size and athleticism and mean streak is evident.
And doesn’t this push ND up to about 10th in class recruiting rankings? Doesn’t touch Kelly’s top 5 aspirations but all things considered that’s really not bad in a pandemic no-visit world..
We had this one ready.
Just a heads up. ISD has some pretty great content on their main page right now about the Rocco commitment and I think it’s all free.
Edited commitment video, video of zoom call where Rocco committed to the staff, a video of Blake Fisher giving his thoughts on the commitment, etc.
Over the 2 year cycle that’s 6 top 50 guys in Mayer, Johnson, baker, Spindler, fisher and Buchner (and 7 if you count tyree). That’s a solid number and there is no redundancy there either. Having said that, 3 top 50 guys this year is still relatively disappointing. Easy to imagine and scenario where you retain colzie, get Shipley, and get an additional OL. That March recruiting weekend should have been big. Nd could have trotted our THREE first team all pro OL plus McGlinchey. Feel like that would have helped.
Those 22-23 schedules feel like a referendum on all recruiting too with Ohio state/ Clemson on both (and at some point a competent usc). If Buchner has it, think offensively they’ll be in good shape
Yeah, can’t really hide that the whiff on a player like Shipley is what is going to separate Notre Dame from the very elite in the upcoming years. They did what they could and was worth the investment, but coming up empty hurts when you want to not just be in the running to make the playoffs, but also win in them.
I do agree with your latter point though, this team really needs a stud QB to transform the program. Getting really, really good QBs is what made Clemson what they are. ND has done well to get very high-end recruits (Wimbush, Jurkovec), it just hasn’t worked out. Hopefully sooner than later Buchner can start a trend to get things kick-started.
I wonder how these freshmen will be affected by presumably cancelled season this year. You gotta bet they will try to give some kind of extra eligibility so these guys might ha e a harder time cracking through wver since they might have the same eligibility as this year’s freshmen.
Decisions about these issues will be influenced by money. For example, increasing the number of scholarship players would cost the school money at the same time there are big losses due to (lack of) ticket sales and possibly TV
Good point. That makes it seem like there is no good solution.