Elite Clarkston OT Rocco Spindler Blown Away By Harbaugh, U-M's Facilities

“The trip was one of my favorites on so far,” he began. “It was about building relationships and having fun with the coaches while getting to know their personalities and styles of teaching. My first two trips to Michigan were more business-like and involved just getting to know the staff, but we’re now at the point where we can just have fun.

“I got there pretty early in the morning last weekend and first toured the area where they keep all the footballs from their all-time wins, and we were shown a couple videos right after that. We then walked around the facilities and talked to Coach [Jim] Harbaugh for 30 to 40 minutes, and he showed us around the new parts they’re working on.

“We then sat down with Coach [Ed] Warinner, Matty D [recruiting coordinator Matt Dudek], and the weight lifting coach [Ben Herbert] — all those guys were watching the Masters at the same time and jumping around, and it was good to see the bond they have with each other.

“Coach Warinner actually broke down film with us and highlighted key parts for us to watch. It was so much different than high school, because they don’t go back and forth breaking down plays the way Coach Warinner did. At one point, he asked me what ‘Mo-Mo’ was and I said I wasn’t sure, and he explained it’s ‘Man on Man.’ Two hours later he asked me again, and I was like ‘Man on Man, Coach!’ Michigan actually runs pretty much the same blocking scheme we do at Clarkston, so I was watching my position and figuring out what I can do better.

“It was so good to see the way the offensive linemen were bonded with each other — the game starts up front and it’s trench life for those guys, so it’s important to come together.”

Spindler raved about U-M’s facilities perhaps more than anything else, along with the fact that Harbaugh provided a personal tour of the areas that are still under construction.

“I was actually expecting Coach Harbaugh to just watch the Masters leading up to the practice, but he took Delly [Dellinger] and I to see the new facilities, even though they weren’t even done yet,” Spindler exclaimed. “It was just bricks, stones, mortar and dust. We needed our helmets to be in there, and Coach Harbaugh was on his hands and knees crawling through it and showing us where they’d be adding stuff.