*** Let's start off with Rivals100 Clarkston (Mich.) High offensive lineman Rocco Spindler, who set a firm commitment date of Aug. 8 last night. Despite the date, I can 100 percent tell you that Spindler has not informed coaching staffs of his decision. Spindler has a final five of Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, LSU and Penn State, but I still see this as a Michigan-Notre Dame head-to-head battle. I've had my FutureCast pick in for Michigan for a long time and haven't moved from it.
*** The Michigan staff had a Zoom call with Spindler earlier today. There seems to be optimism around Ann Arbor, and I still feel good about my pick right now. While Notre Dame built up hype early, I feel like Michigan has outworked its recruiting rival as of late. The virtual birthday party the staff threw Spindler really meant a lot to him, and he feels like Jim Harbaugh, Ed Warinner and Matty Dudek are family. It's hard to envision him telling them no. Still, I am wary about Notre Dame and am not overconfident. I like where Michigan stands, but we'll see if there is anymore movement in the next few weeks.
*** On to fellow Rivals100 offensive lineman Drew Kendall. I get the sense that Spindler's decision date announcement actually helped with Kendall as far as his timeline goes. From what I've been able to gather, Kendall may be closer to locking in his spot with Michigan. According to a source, Kendall is looking to schedule a call with Harbaugh and Warinner for early this week to get his final questions answered. Again, Kendall wants to make his decision this month and definitely before Spindler.
*** If Kendall follows through and actually does make his decision soon then I do expect the pick to be Michigan. As I've said before, it's a 'we'll believe it when we see it' situation, but the pressure for his to make a decision is building. If Kendall talks to Michigan this week and opts to wait then my confidence will go down. There is a lot of pressure for him to follow in his father's footsteps and play at Boston College. I also have no issue saying there has been some negative recruiting in terms of BC. Stanford remains the wildcard, but I still feel like Kendall doesn't want to go that far.
*** The Michigan staff had a Zoom call with Spindler earlier today. There seems to be optimism around Ann Arbor, and I still feel good about my pick right now. While Notre Dame built up hype early, I feel like Michigan has outworked its recruiting rival as of late. The virtual birthday party the staff threw Spindler really meant a lot to him, and he feels like Jim Harbaugh, Ed Warinner and Matty Dudek are family. It's hard to envision him telling them no. Still, I am wary about Notre Dame and am not overconfident. I like where Michigan stands, but we'll see if there is anymore movement in the next few weeks.
*** On to fellow Rivals100 offensive lineman Drew Kendall. I get the sense that Spindler's decision date announcement actually helped with Kendall as far as his timeline goes. From what I've been able to gather, Kendall may be closer to locking in his spot with Michigan. According to a source, Kendall is looking to schedule a call with Harbaugh and Warinner for early this week to get his final questions answered. Again, Kendall wants to make his decision this month and definitely before Spindler.
*** If Kendall follows through and actually does make his decision soon then I do expect the pick to be Michigan. As I've said before, it's a 'we'll believe it when we see it' situation, but the pressure for his to make a decision is building. If Kendall talks to Michigan this week and opts to wait then my confidence will go down. There is a lot of pressure for him to follow in his father's footsteps and play at Boston College. I also have no issue saying there has been some negative recruiting in terms of BC. Stanford remains the wildcard, but I still feel like Kendall doesn't want to go that far.
