Notre Dame football: Rocco Spindler commitment could open doors

Notre Dame football won a huge recruiting battle for Rocco Spindler over Michigan and Jim Harbaugh over the weekend that could open doors.

Over the weekend, Notre Dame did something that not many teams other than Ohio State or maybe even Penn State — and sometimes a program from the SEC — have been able to do. The Irish marched into Michigan’s backyard and swiped a top recruit in Clarkston (Mich.) four-star offensive lineman Rocco Spindler.

The Irish had been trending with him for weeks and he went from a huge Michigan recruiting win to a Notre Dame steal.

While a promise to his late grandfather may have had something to do with his decision to pick the Irish, this just goes to show that Brian Kelly isn’t messing around in the recruiting landscape anymore. His classes keep getting better and any time you can dip into Michigan and land the No. 48 recruit in the nation over the likes of Michigan, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Penn State, it’s huge for momentum’s sake.

Spindler immediately became Notre Dame’s second-highest ranked commit in the 2021 class and is the first pledge from Michigan. It’s also the first time since the 2018 class that Notre Dame picked up a recruit from the state of Michigan (Ovie Oghoufo).

This is a big win that means more than just adding Michigan’s third-best prospect, according to 247Sports, but it opens doors and could lead to a future pipeline in the state.

While Spindler is from Clarkston and may not have a huge affect on some of Notre Dame’s top Michigan-based prospects in 2022 like five-star cornerback William Johnson and four-star running back Dillon Tatum, sometimes all you need is that first commit to act as a domino effect.

Seeing one kid from Michigan go to Notre Dame could lead to another and then another. Spindler could act as a recruiter and bring some elite talent with him.

Notre Dame doesn’t dip into Michigan enough and the state produces a wealth of Division 1 talent. This Spindler recruiting win over Jim Harbaugh could be the first of many.