And the Notre Dame fallout continues. While Marcus Freeman did solidify himself as the best contender for the “Cinderella run”, with that natty loss, things have switched up. Freeman and ND have faced 5 massive blows – all on the offense. If anything, this pushes back the Irish quite a bit. When you recall ND’s 2024, their offense was never “noteworthy”. Yes, 20+ pointer games aside, there was a lack of big plays, and the injury woes crippled the production. At the end of the day, everything fell on Riley Leonard – managing the O-line – calling the shots. To everyone’s surprise, this guy showed up for his boys. Single-handedly lifted ND’s offense, despite having Jeremiyah Love on an on/off basis because of the knee injury.

For any HC, keeping his QB safe is more important than everything else, but with the season over, the drafts in, and the portal open – Freeman is going to lose more than he anticipated. “I initially thought that Pat Coogan might be a better fit and he still could be due to his playing center and rumors of his girlfriend attending IU,” The Big Ten Huddle Podcast points out on their channel. As of now, this is purely a “rumor,” so take it with a grain of salt. However, transferring from ND to IU won’t be surprising as Carson Beck is heading over to Miami and we all know what the fans are saying about that. The problem is – What will Freeman do now?

The team’s “hype-man” Pat Coogan, calling it quits, will hit the Irish hard. Started at left guard back in 2023 but was pushed to be a swing player in the offseason. It was only when Ashton Craig suffered his knee injury that Coogan finally got his starter role back. While his run with the Irish was an “alright” relationship…

…He still was one of the driving forces behind Love’s 1125 rush-yard gains. “Coogs is an unbelievable leader,” Freeman had once pointed out. The battle in the trenches continues, and while this loss will haunt the ND HC, some solid players like Anthonie Knapp, Aamil Wagner, and Guerby Lambert are coming back – to keep the ship afloat.

“I have peace of mind, knowing that I gave everything I had, and I know my teammates have the same thing,” Coogan pointed out after ND exited the natty game. Well, the O-line is going to miss Coogs, but this ain’t even the biggest loss Freeman is facing right now.

Michigan on the horizon

Like vultures around a fresh kill. If there is anything Sherrone Moore has done “perfectly” this season was to build up the recruitment game for UM. The Bluebloods Ranked 9th in the entire counter for the 2025 class and marked as the 3rd contender in the B1G.

Big money and a solid program that offers a top-notch NFL pipeline could get you almost everything – so why not start picking at ND? One man’s loss is another man’s gain, right? With Rocco Spindler transferring out of ND, it opens a whole new opportunity for Moore to swoop right in and drop a deal.

Spindler’s journey during the 2024 run is a mirror of Coogs run. Started in all 10 games in 2023. Was ultimately benched because of an injury in 2024 – got back the starting role after Billy Schrauth was injured. While Freeman didn’t exactly have “two-thirds of starting linemen” loss on his calendar, the hit from losing Spindler and Coogs as a packaged deal would be hard to swallow.

Regardless, as the Michigan Sports Talk podcast pointed out, “One guy to keep a very close eye on is the Notre Dame offensive line transfer Rocco Spindler.” Could we end up seeing Moore make a push for Spindler and maybe Coogs as well?