The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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60 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2017 COMMITMENT PROFILE Generally speaking, whenever Ohio State offers a prospect from within its state borders, they land that player. Ak- ron (Ohio) Hoban four-star offensive guard Nolan Rumler, Rivals' No. 93 player nationally in the 2019 class, isn't a traditional Ohioan, though. Rumler's father, Todd, a Michigan native, has been to Ann Arbor many times with his son, and all of those visits eventually built up enough momentum for Nolan to verbally commit to U-M. The real family ties and the feel cre- ated by Jim Harbaugh made Rumler feel beyond comfortable during his most recent visit for the BBQ July 29. "Coach Harbaugh really did a great job of making it into a family environment," Rumler said. "That feel was huge for my decision. Fam- ily is very important to me, and it's really important that my family can watch me play in college. "Michigan is only three hours from where I live so that was a big factor. I have grandparents and aunts and uncles and friends that live in Michi- gan so that's great. It's like I won't ever be leaving my family. "It's not just my actual family being close, but Coach Harbaugh is really big into family, too. It's very important — a football team is like a family. Your teammates are your brothers and your coaches play a big role in your life. It's a great place because of that." Rumler's dad also felt the love while in town for Michigan's BBQ and got a sense of how the program operates from a simple recruiting event. "It was very well run, and it was a great environment to get to know the coaches," the elder Rumler said. "We were able to spend time with the staff and have a look inside the program." Todd Rumler grew up in Jackson and played his high school football at Jackson Lumen Christi before mov- ing on to play at Grand Valley State in the early 1990s. Nolan was born in Jackson, but then the family relocated to Ohio when he was just 2 years old. Even though he grew up in The Buckeye State, Nolan never felt at home there like he did in The Mitten. That ultimately led to him commit- ting to Michigan — something he felt would happen since he was a young boy. "My commitment feels good be- cause I love Michigan," Rumler said. "I've always felt at home in Michi- gan, so it's never been an issue. "Even growing up in Ohio, I've always known that I wanted to go to Michigan. It doesn't feel weird not going to Ohio State for me." Rumler should be viewed as a very solid commit, but he's also realistic in his approach. He loves Michigan and will not look around, but is ap- proaching the recruiting process like a business decision. "I'd like to think that my status will not change, but you just never know what can happen over these next two years," Rumler said. "As of right now, I'm 100 percent commit- ted to Michigan. I haven't talked to any other schools in probably two or three months, and I don't really plan on talking to other schools unless something really crazy happens at Michigan." With a commitment out of the way, Rumler can now focus on his junior season at Hoban, which he hopes will be another state championship campaign after winning one in both of his first two seasons on varsity. The 6-4, 300-pound rising junior has been named to the 2017 Ohio high school football preseason all- state big school offense second team and is expected to be a key cog on a very good offensive line. — Brandon Brown FILM EVALUATION Strengths: Nolan Rumler is a brick wall. At 6-4 and 300 pounds, he's nearly immovable once he has his hands on a defender. His strength and sturdiness make him a devastat- ing run blocker, and also makes him difficult to get past on passing plays. Areas Of Improvement: Even though he's serviceable as a pass blocker, he'll need to work on his technique there to handle ultra ath- letic defensive tackles at the next level. He's not a long player, so he can't make up for mistakes with length. He'll have to be a technician on five- and seven-step drops. Michigan Player Comparison: Rumler compares quite favorably to former Wolverine David Baas. Both are 100 percent interior linemen with stout, stocky builds and a very strong upper body. Rumler is prob- ably considered a better athlete coming out of high school, but like Baas he likely won't be the most ath- letic lineman on the field. Also like Baas, Rumler could be described as extremely strong, beyond service- able and skilled enough to play after college. — Analysis from TheWolverine.com Rumler — a 6-4, 300-pound rising junior offensive guard from Akron (Ohio) Hoban — is rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Family Ties Helped Lead Nolan Rumler To Michigan