Todd Hartley has his second 2025 tight end.
Ethan Barbour committed to Georgia on Friday afternoon. The Alpharetta High School product chose the Bulldogs over Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, and South Carolina.
Barbour joins Elyiss Williams as tight ends committed to Georgia in the 2025 class.
Georgia offered Barbour last June. He had made multiple visits to Athens before that, including for 2022's G-Day game and for the scavenger hunt event that May.
Barbour wasted no time seeing his future school last season, attending the season-opening win over Oregon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"It was insane," Barbour told UGASports at the time. "If you're going to be a tight end at Georgia, you need to master all aspects of the position. You have to be physical at the point of contact and you have to be able to help the team move the ball downfield. Both (Darnell) Washington and (Brock) Bowers bring something completely different to the table, but one thing is the same. You can't stop them."
Georgia then hosted Barbour in Athens for wins over Auburn and Tennessee last fall.
Like many prospects, Barbour raved about the environment in Athens for the Tennessee game. But that day also told him something about the program built by Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.
"It tells me that winning the natty last year (2021) was the result of a lot of hard work, and Coach Smart and the other coaches are building a program that is meant to last," Barbour told UGASports. "They will be near the top for years to come."
Barbour attended the national championship celebration in January and returned once for spring practice and again for his second consecutive G-Day in April. Over the course of a few months, Georgia surged to the favorite in Barbour's recruitment.
The relationship with Hartley proved to be a big reason why.
"He’s a down-to-earth guy," Barbour told UGASports this spring. "He’s going to be real with you. He’s not going to feed you any BS. He’s going to coach you up hard, but he’s going to take care of you as well."
Georgia's usage of the tight ends also intrigues Barbour.
"They use the tight ends; it’s different than everybody else," Barbour said this summer. "The past few years, Coach Hartley’s been putting tight ends in the league. That’s the ultimate goal for me, trying to make it to the NFL."
According to Barbour, Hartley and the Bulldogs have told him for a while they were ready when he was in terms of a commitment. Barbour has now decided he is ready, becoming the seventh commit in Georgia's top-ranked 2025 recruiting class.
