Gunnar Helm has Blown Up into a National Recruit
A few months ago, Gunnar Helm took a trip to Boulder with one offer in hand, from Colorado State which came earlier in the week.
Helm had a good feeling heading into the trip and by the end, it was clear they were going to offer him.
“Well, Coach Tucker, when he offered me up at CU, he was like, ‘Listen, man, now that the now that I've offered you, the country will see that. You're going to have 12 offers next week.’ And in the back of my mind, I was like, ‘Dang, that'd be crazy, but there's just no way,’” Helm said. “Well, he was right. I got Central Michigan on like a Monday night and then I got Auburn, Oregon State, Utah, Iowa State on the same day. And then it just really picked up from there.”
Little did he know. Helm now holds 22 Power-5 offers including Alabama, Georgia and LSU.
“Everyone really has nothing to do so there are just tons of phone calls every day with coaches,” Helm said. “They're just kind of checking on the gods and see how they're doing. So I've probably five, six phone calls a day.”
The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder has started the process of narrowing down his options but says there’s really no way to tell until you get out there to visit.
“I could go to my number one school and say, ‘This is not what I thought it was going to be,’ and it could drop out,” Helm said. “Or vice versa, I could go to a school that maybe wasn't in the top 10 and say, ‘Wow, I could definitely see myself playing here and fitting in this offense and this coaching staff is sweet.’”
Helm says he has been in contact with the new CU coaching staff pretty frequently since they’ve been hired.
“I talk to (tight ends) coach (Taylor) Embree, the new tight ends coach, pretty often,” Helm said. “And I got off the phone with (Head) coach (Karl) Dorrell on Sunday night. And (offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini) still texts me. I mean, yeah, I'm still in the loop. I want to get up to Boulder to meet them in person.”
Helm’s father, Blake, played at Cherry Creek with Jon Embree so the families go way back. Gunnar Helm has already been impressed with his conversations with Taylor Embree.
“When I first talked to Taylor, my dad was like, ‘Yeah, that's John Embree’s son.’ I was like, ‘Wow, I didn't connect those dots,’” Helm said. “But great guy, he sounds like he knows what he's doing and he knows what he's doing for sure. But the trust is definitely there and I'm starting to build a better and better relationship with the new coaching staff.”
Helm said he’s been impressed with what the Embrees were able to do with the San Francisco 49ers.
“Once you get to college, they're trying to build you up for the next level, if you can play at the next level,” Helm said. “And I definitely think Coach Embree is capable of that.”
Helm will take lots of visits this summer to try and narrow down his options. Auburn, LSU, Tennessee and Alabama are schools he wants to visit. He received an offer from Georgia on Friday so that will likely be added to his southern swing.