Notre Dame Commit Ethan Long Feels At Home During Visit

Notre Dame safety commit Ethan Long returned for another visit this weekend

Notre Dame safety commit Ethan Long / Ethan Long

A lot of things have changed since 2025 Greenwich (Conn.) Brunswick School safety Ethan Long committed to Notre Dame back in the beginning of January. While the defensive staff has stayed mostly intact, the big defection was when former safeties coach Chris O’Leary left to be an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Chargers. 

That left the two 2025 safety commits, including Long, to evaluate the situation and show a high level of trust in what the Irish staff was building. The Connecticut standout returned to South Bend over the weekend, which included the Jersey Scrimmage. 

It was an impressive overall showing for the defense according to Long, who was very happy just to be back. 

"The visit was great,” Long told Irish Breakdown. “It is always good to be back."

Long enjoyed getting to watch the Irish team compete during the scrimmage.

"The scrimmage was awesome,” stated Long. "The guys look like they are ready to play right now. They all flew around and had so much energy. I wanted to get out there myself because of how into it they were.” 

With Mike Mickens now in charge of the entire secondary, this was Long's first chance to see how the safety room looked under his tutelage. He came away impressed, citing several standouts during the scrimmage. It was an overall strong group showing. 

"The safeties are straight working,” explained Long. "They are flying around making plays and setting the tone. Xavier (Watts), Adon (Shuler), Jordan (Clark) and Kennedy (Urlacher) are looking like dogs.” 

With Watts’ resume, including All-American honors last season, it isn’t a shock that he was mentioned as having a strong showing. Shuler receiving high praise was certainly a positive about the future of the position. 

"He's just getting started,” Long said of the rising sophomore safety. "He's a special player and the world will see soon.”

Following the visit, it appears that the safety position is in very good hands under Coach Mickens. It sounds like Long saw all he needed to see, and he is even more looking forward to being a part of the future of Notre Dame football. 

As a junior, Long put together a tremendous season for Brunswick School. In nine games, he collected 56 total tackles, three interceptions and three more forced fumbles. He is expected to take another massive step as a senior. 

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