Notre Dame’s March 26 offer to Pat Coogansent the boulder rolling downhill on his recruitment.
Already a coveted recruit among Big Ten teams with more than 20 offers, Notre Dame — a childhood favorite — changed his dynamic. Turns out, it helped opened up national attention for the Chicago Marist three-star offensive lineman.
Ohio State offered a couple days later. Then Oklahoma. Then LSU and Texas A&M. All in span of four days. He finally found a moment to soak it in and emerged with some clarity — Notre Dame would be tough to beat. Two weeks after the barrage of offers, he committed to the Fighting Irish Wednesday night.
“It was definitely a crazy experience and a blessing for sure,” Coogan said. “After it settled down, I was getting a ton of phone calls. I took a step back and didn’t think I’d be able to keep doing that. So I accelerated my process a little bit, which I’m glad I did. A big weight definitely lifted off my shoulders.”
Updates On Major Notre Dame Targets Jason Onye, Rocco Spindler
Clarkston (Mich.) High class of 2021 offensive lineman Rocco Spindler had his recruiting game plan laid out.
He already announced his top 10 schools list of Alabama, Arizona State, Florida, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Tennessee on March 2. The 6-5, 290-pounder planned to take all five of his official visits in April and early May before making a commitment May 15.
Spindler was going to visit Notre Dame March 20, which was well known, and the Rivals100 product also confirmed to BlueandGold.com that he was going to officially visit Brian Kelly’s program April 3 as well.
“It’s changed dramatically,” Spindler said of his recruiting process. “I have to push everything back; I don’t want to rush it. I have a system, which is to take all of my official visits, see what my best option is, give [the schools] a week notice and have a big commitment day at my school.
Warwick (R.I.) Bishop Hendricken School defensive end Jason Onye had a visit locked in to Notre Dame in March, and the Fighting Irish would have been in a strong position to land his commitment.
The impact COVID-19 is having on college football recruiting isn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly has thrown a loop into the process for class of 2021 prospects.
“It has just put everything in a standstill,” Onye said. “The plan was to commit next month or in June, but that’s probably not likely anymore.”
Onye has an idea on how to move forward with his recruiting process, although it has to be considered tentative, because so much is uncertain in terms of when visits will be allowed again.
A Look Back At Recent Notre Dame Versus Michigan Recruiting Battles
These days, the latest Notre Dame and Michigan head-to-head recruiting battle is taking place not far from Ann Arbor. Both teams are in pursuit of Clarkson (Mich.) offensive lineman Rocco Spindler, a top-100 player nationally who would bolster a position group both see as becoming a staple of their 2021 recruiting classes.
There have already been a few recruiting battles between the two this cycle, but Spindler stands as the pivotal one that will leave lasting elation for one and wounds for the other (or both, if he ends up choosing Penn State).
The Irish have already notched a couple recruiting wins over Michigan, notably snagging offensive lineman Pat Coogan earlier this week. Safety Justin Walters and offensive tackle Blake Fisher took visits to Michigan before committing to Notre Dame. Michigan remains in touch with Notre Dame receiver commit Lorenzo Styles Jr.
Michigan, meanwhile, has a commitment from ex-Fighting Irish pledge Greg Crippen, the final chapter of a Notre Dame recruitment that ended in an inevitable, unsurprising split.
Pod Like A Champion: Breaking Down Notre Dame Recruits In Midwest
BlueandGold.com recruiting insider Mike Singer is joined by Rivals Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt on this episode of Pod Like A Champion. They discuss how COVID-19 is impacting the landscape of college football recruiting, discuss several Notre Dame targets and commits in the 2021 class and more.
