Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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football recruiting Irish Legacy Makes Another Addition To Strong Lineman Haul By Dan Murphy T he Bars family is a veteran group when it comes to the college recruiting process. So when their youngest son Alex, a four-star offensive tackle, figured out where he wanted to play football they made him wait until he was absolute certain before saying anything. A week later, he announced his plans to join the list of blue-chip linemen in Notre Dame's class of 2014. commitment profile Alex Bars The first Bars to go through the recruiting process was Joe, Alex's father. He was one of the first recruits to commit to Irish head coach Gerry Faust in 1981. He played along the defensive line at Notre Dame, but did his best not to interfere while his son was choosing a future school. "I really appreciated him and the way he stayed out of the whole process and let me make the decision for myself," the younger Bars said. Bars had plenty of options to follow in his family's footsteps. His brother Brad is a senior defensive end at Penn State, and his brother Blake is a redshirt freshman at Michigan. The Wolverines were considered the favorites to land Alex this spring, but he decided Notre Dame was the better fit. "It's just that it's a top academic school, the 100 percent graduation rate, and a top football program, and it has a staff that really cares about their players," Bars said while explaining his choice. The 6-6, 270-pound tackle is a standout on and off the field at Nashville (Tenn.) Montgomery Bell Academy. He carries a 4.3 grade-point average, and head coach Marty Euverard described him as a leader by example in the locker room. Euverard, who has coached two of the three Bars brothers at Montgomery Bell, said the youngest brother is very athletic for someone his size. Along with football, he is the sixth man of the Big Red varsity basketball team and throws the shot put for the track team in the fall. He and three teammates won a shot put relay competition at Tennessee's Highland Games during the first week of April. "He's just a solid kid. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes," Euverard said. "He's hard to get around. He does a tremendous job of pulling. He's quick and athletic enough. He's agile enough to do a lot of the stuff we do." The coach said Bars started to grow into his tall, wiry frame during his sophomore season and soon became a force on the defensive line. He moved to offensive tackle as a junior and will play both ways during his senior season. Bars is not yet a physically overpowering linemen. According to Eu-