2025 4-star TE Ethan Barbour commits to Georgia: 'The culture is just different'

Alpharetta (Ga.) four-star 2025 tight end Ethan Barbour first started hearing from Georgia after a standout freshman season two years ago.

When he got the offer from the Bulldogs going into his sophomore year, it meant something different. The hometown school has always meant something special to him. Auburn, South Carolina and others came into the picture, but UGA was where he wanted to be.

On Friday, Barbour announced his commitment to Kirby Smart and Co., giving the Bulldogs their seventh commitment in the 2025 class.

“The culture is different at Georgia,” he told On3. “I love it. It is work, work, work. if you go to Georgia, you have to want to work. They want guys that will work hard, those who can handle adversity really well and it is different. They work hard and they are winners.”

Barbour has known it’s Georgia for a while

After visiting Georgia, as well as Alabama and South Carolina at the end of July, Barbour had some thinking to do. He didn’t have a commitment date in mind at that point. But the more he thought about his future in Athens, he knew he wanted to stay home and get on board in Georgia’s class.

“I knew it was Georgia about 4-5 weeks ago,” he added. “It’s close to home, the people are special, and they are building something special. The coaching staff coaches the players hard, and they develop them. Things are going really good at Georgia.

… And Georgia being close to home was a factor. The environment was big for me. The games are wild, they have great support and the campus is rocking every Saturday.”

Bulldogs’ offense also excites him

At the same time, no program has better developed or featured tight ends in Barbour’s mind than the one just down the road from Athens. Tights end coach Todd Hartley is churning out playmakers, and Barbour thinks he can be the next great tight end at Georgia.

“They play a lot of tight ends and they also throw the ball to all of their tight ends,” he said. “They run 12 personnel a lot, and it is not just two tight ends in the game, but they use and throw to both tight ends. They use the tight ends on the field in the run and passing game. That was big for me.”

Barbour is also excited to play for Kirby Smart and believes the two-time defending national champions are only going up from here.

“With Georgia, I am going into the new dynasty of college football,” he said. “It used to be Alabama. Nick Saban has won all of his national championships, but Georgia is that new dynasty. They have stepped up their game, they work hard and they are winners. I am going into a great situation at Georgia.”