Tradition Stands Out At Notre Dame For Marc Spindler

Marc Spindler always maintained that his son couldn’t go wrong with the opportunities placed in front of him.

On Saturday night, 2021 Michigan offensive lineman Rocco Spindler‍ announced his commitment to Notre Dame over his other finalists; Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and LSU.

“Rich history, tradition, excellence, education,” Mr. Spindler said of what stood out about Notre Dame. “First and foremost, I think the tradition, the rich tradition at Notre Dame both academically and athletically, it’s at a very high standard. For me, that’s what I would be looking at first and foremost.”

Mr. Spindler, who played defensive line at Pittsburgh before spending a decade in the NFL, noted the Irish’s tradition just about spans the history of the game.

“With Notre Dame, it’s from the beginning to the end,” he said. “When you think about tradition going way back to the beginning all of the way to modern day, not much has changed. When you have that type of rich history and tradition, you have that network after football.”

Spindler has a daughter who graduated from the United States Military Academy.

“I compare it to my daughter’s graduation from West Point, a Long Gray Line,” he said. “I think Notre Dame probably has their version of a Long Gray Line, so I think that’s what’s appealing to me personally as a dad.”

Mr. Spindler’s personal history with Notre Dame dates back to his days as a high school All-American.

“I’m not bragging, but I turned Notre Dame down going to college,” he said. “I visited Notre Dame and they weren’t the right fit for me.”

After years of competing against the Irish, Mr. Spindler came to have a deep appreciation for Lou Holtz, especially how dynamic the former Notre Dame coach is as a public speaker. But at the same time, he knows his son is joining a program is deeper than any individual.

“I really believe that Notre Dame itself is so much bigger than any coach who has ever been there, any of the players who ever came from there,” he said, while noting the same could be said for Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.

“For me, tradition is about the name. What does that name mean? Not necessarily what a person means; a coach or a player. They’re just the add-ons that go along with it. Notre Dame itself, with or without a lot of coaches, would still be Notre Dame.”

Mr. Spindler was ready to have to recruiting behind them and is proud of the way his son handled the entire process.

“He had a process and he had a plan,” he said. “The plan was very clear, the plan was very concise and the plan was very committed. Obviously, COVID is bigger than all of his plans and it needed to be treated with the respect that it was. If that’s the worst that can come from it for him, that his plan was interrupted, then so be it. Having said that, having that disruption throw it off course, so what?

“He’s critically thought about what he was going to do, what he was going to say, how he was going to say it, why he chose the school and he has done that. He has stuck to his plan.”