ESPN Recruiting Nation Football

With brothers at both Michigan and Penn State, offensive tackle Alex Bars (Nashville, Tenn./Montgomery Bell Academy) was facing a tough decision. Join Blake at Michigan or Brad at Penn State?

Alex went an entirely different route and followed in the footsteps of his father. The four-star lineman and the No. 55 player in the ESPN 150 committed to Notre Dame on Friday.

Joe Bars was a linebacker at Notre Dame.

“It was pretty great,” Bars said of telling his father the news. “I really appreciated him not pressuring me to go to his alma mater. I think he's pretty happy, though. He's excited for me.

“… I've been thinking hard about it these past couple months. I realized a couple weeks ago where I wanted to go, but my parents made me wait a week. Notre Dame was the best place for me.”

Bars is the fourth offensive lineman in the Irish’s class, which is quickly making a case as the best offensive line haul, at least as of May. Bars is joined by four-star guards Sam Mustipher (No. 11 among guards) and Quenton Nelson (No. 19) and three-star tackle Jimmy Byrne (No. 28). Bars is No. 7 among tackles nationally.

Notre Dame is putting a major emphasis on the offensive line for a second consecutive recruiting class. In 2013, the Irish signed two top-10 tackles and two more players in the top 30 at the position. They also signed No. 27 guard John Montelus.

Forced to nationally recruit, the Irish are doing just that in the 2014 class. Of the Irish’s 10 commitments, nine hail from different states.

Bars is the second highest-ranked commitment in the Irish’s class, which ranked No. 8 nationally before Bars’ pledge.

Michigan, where brother Blake Bars plays, and Notre Dame are scheduled to meet for the last time in 2014, which would be Alex Bars’ freshman season in South Bend. The back and forth between the brothers has not started just yet, though.

“They were disappointed I didn't go to their school, but they're happy for me,” Bars said. “Blake thinks Michigan is the best school in the country, but there hasn't been any trash-talking yet. I'm sure there will be during this season.”

WolverineNation reporter Tom VanHaaren contributed to this report.

Michigan originally led for Daniel Helm (Chatham, Ill./Glenwood), but a tight end commitment for the Wolverines today filled the spot in their class.

That did not have as much of an impact on Helm as it might appear, though, as Ole Miss and Tennessee had taken over the top two spots on his list. On Tuesday evening, Helm committed to the Volunteers.

Deadlocked between Ole Miss and Tennessee, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Helm called up Vols coach Butch Jones for some clarity.

“I’ve been asking which way to go, school to choose,” Helm said, “and he basically shared his heart with me and said he’d like to coach me and said Tennessee would be a great fit for me.

“That’s what I was looking for.”

Helm visited Knoxville earlier this month, which helped spur the Volunteers toward the top of his list. At the time of the visit he had a top four of Michigan, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida, which has not offered.

More than the visit, however, it was the coaches that catapulted Tennessee. Helm gushed about the staff, specifically Jones, offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian and position coach Mark Elder.

Minster (Ohio) High School tight end Ethan Wolf also committed to Tennessee this month, and the staff told Helm they foresee a lot of two-tight end sets.

“They talked to me a lot about what they want to do and see me as,” Helm said. “I don’t know how it’ll parlay with the other tight end commit, but we’ll have a lot of healthy competition in our careers.”

A decision was not planned to come until just before the season at the earliest, but with positions filling up quickly, Helm was forced to make a commitment earlier than he planned. Still, he has no second thoughts about his pledge to Tennessee.

“I’m quite comfortable with this decision,” he said. “I don’t plan on changing unless something goes on with the coaching staff or something bad, which I don’t see happening.”