Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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78 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW edged the atmosphere this spring felt "very weird," although new line coach Jeff Quinn, an analyst on offense the past three years, helped make the transition a little smoother. "It's taken a lot of changing on our part to get used to it," Bars said. "Coach Quinn has done a great job taking the group over. "Sam and I understand the standard that has been set here by Harry." An intrinsic sense of responsibility has enveloped the new veteran offensive line tandem, just as it did the recent duos. "I feel like I'm a totally different player and a leader," Bars said. "Mike and Q were great players and leaders. Sam and I took a backseat to them in a way, but this is our team now. "Everyone looks to the offensive line to set the standard of the team." The group achieved the ultimate prize as a 2017 unit when they were presented the Joe Moore Award (who coached the Notre Dame offensive line from 1988‑96) as the nation's top offensive line. It will be virtually impossible to replicate that accomplishment in 2018, but it won't be from complacency. "After the bowl game, I figured Mike and Q were gone, and this group needs someone to lead them," Bars explained. "It fell on Sam and I. When we got back, we were a lot more vocal and leading the guys right away. "We called each other and texted. We got each other excited for next year because it's our team." The first day of practice this spring even brought back the Martin brothers as well as McGlinchey and Nelson with a simple re‑ minder on their visit: Do not deter from the daily standards. Taking His 'Q' From Nelson The Notre Dame offensive line went through a typical Rubik's‑Cube‑like shuffle this spring to find the five best positions among its five best players. In the closing weeks, Bars was stationed at the left guard spot where Nelson set a standard for the ages. Like Nelson, Bars had typically preferred to let his actions do the speaking while re‑ maining relatively low key in his endeavors. Last year, however, Nelson became much more verbose, and Bars has followed that lead. "Alex understands the standards that we have here," head coach Brian Kelly said. "He models those standards, and the players see that, they react to it positively. "You can't kid those guys … the players wanted him as their next captain. He earned it. We gave everybody the opportunity on our football team to be the fourth captain, and his peers voted for him." Bars, who started at right guard in 2017 and right tackle in 2016, is slated to be Notre Dame's No. 1 left guard during his fifth-year senior campaign this fall. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND Raising The Bars While Sam Mustipher's major in engineering is rare amongst future NFL prospects, classmate Alex Bars and his brothers have also set an impressive standard throughout the country as student-athletes. One older brother, Brad, played linebacker at Penn State from 2011-14, where he was a four-time All- Academic Big Ten selection before playing for the New York Giants in 2015. Another brother, Blake, played along the Michigan offensive line from 2012-15 but opted to enroll in law school rather than return for his fifth season, although he reportedly was invited back. Meanwhile, his sister Lauren is a sophomore volleyball standout at Ole Miss, where she posted a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a freshman. Their father, Joe Bars, was a member of head coach Gerry Faust's first and No. 1-rated recruiting class in 1981 and was a 1985 graduate, while their mother, Sally, was a swimmer at Michigan State for one season. Such well-roundedness or versatility in the family also is manifested in Bars now set to start at his third different position in three years: left guard (2018), after seasons at right guard (2017) and right tackle (2016). Such movement by a lineman at Notre Dame might have not have been seen since 1951-53, when 1954 No. 2 overall NFL pick Art Hunter first started at center (1951), shifted to end (1952) and finished his senior year at right tackle (1953). Bars actually began his Notre Dame career at left tackle in 2014, where head coach Brian Kelly referred to him as one of the best linemen he's seen in 25 years of coaching and "clearly the guy that stands out on offense" among the freshmen — and that was with Quenton Nelson in the same class. In a pinch, Bars has worked on his snapping at center, just in case. — Lou Somogyi