A late Pac 12 offer from Herm Edwards did nothing to sway Donny Long’s desire to become a Bobcat.
The standout senior offensive lineman from Norco, California picked up offers from the Air Force Academy and San Diego last spring. The physical 6-foot-4, 280-pound offensive guard fielded offers from Montana State and Sacramento State earlier this month.
On Sunday, as Long’s weekend taking his official visit to MSU’s campus in Bozeman wound down, Arizona State came out left field with a full scholarship offer.
Instead of jumping at a chance to play for Edwards, a successful NFL veteran coach who took over the Sun Devils’ program this off-season, Long instead decided his future is best served battling in the trenches for MSU head coach Jeff Choate and offensive line coach Josh Taufalele.
“Going to Arizona State, I would just be a number for them and I could easily get lost in the mix,” said Long, who verbally committed to sign with MSU on Tuesday. “It’s hot over there, too. At Montana State, I felt wanted. I felt like a priority.”
Long was one of nine players who made official visits to Bozeman last weekend. Long, along with defensive lineman Pierce DeVaughn from Plano, Texas and Seer Deines from Connell, Washington, gave their verbal commitments earlier this week. Gregory Filer III, a cornerback from Compton Community College, also committed but has not visited Bozeman yet.
Long’s visit also included Garfield (Seattle) High wide receiver Mekhi Metcalf, Bellevue (Washington) athlete Isaiah Ifanse, Eastside Catholic (Seattle) safety Malik Putney, Aledo, Texas defensive tackle James Williams and Bishop Amat (La Puente, California) wide receiver Koby Duru.
“I feel like everyone that went on that visit felt like it was home,” Long said.
Long himself came to Bozeman with his father, Larry. After visiting his older brother Josh, an offensive lineman at Hawaii, Long knew he wanted to pursue Division I football himself. He came close to committing to Air Force before his senior year but after researching the stringent demands of academy life, he decided to wait.
Taufalele, Montana State’s second-year offensive line coach, started calling Long around Christmas. The Bobcats offered Long on January 5, 11 days before Sac State gave him an offer.
Long was familiar with Montana State because of the Bobcats’ presence recruiting the high school about 45 minutes east of Los Angeles and the surrounding area. Former Montana State wide receiver Cam Sutton, a two-year contributor before transferring to Riverside Community College last season, was a senior at Norco when Long was a freshman.
Once Long and his father arrived in Bozeman, he was sold. Despite growing up in Southern California, Long said he loved the winter weather in Montana. He liked the campus, the professors he met, his future offensive line teammates, the MSU coaching staff and his first taste of the Cat-Griz rivalry at Saturday night’s basketball game.
“Bozeman is great because it’s all about Montana State and I love that,” Long said. “I loved the basketball game. I loved the atmosphere with the rivalry.
“I’m tired of the California weather, so I was loving the snow. I’m just tired of being hot. I’m excited to be cold, I guess (laughs).”
Long helped Norco to the second round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs each of the last two seasons. The two-time all-league and All-CIF selection garnered interest from Colorado State and Duke along with his four offers thanks to 86 total pancake blocks.
The athletic lineman earned all-league and All-CIF honors as a left tackle as a junior and as a left guard as a senior. He is also a two-year letterman in basketball. His good footwork is accompanied by sizable power. He says he squats 500 pounds and deadlifts 475. His sizeable frame and forged strength makes him competing for a starting spot at left guard next season a real possibility.
“My pulling ability, being an athlete, turning the corner and making blocks on linebackers is my biggest strength,” Long said. “We run a power spread so we have wide splits, four receivers but we still run power offense because that’s Norco football. We are a spread offense but we run between the tackles.
“I want to go somewhere where I’m run blocking and not just pass setting. Montana State is exactly what I want.”
Long hails from the same high school that produced former Stanford standout running back Toby Gerhart. Norco has a recent history of producing polished, physical offensive linemen.
“The way Norco holds their linemen accountable, it’s like Division I,” Long said. “They expect us all to be Division I guys. They expect a lot out of us.”
Metcalf, a three-star recruit, holds five offers, including one from Idaho. DeVaughn had three offers, including one from Army. Ifanse, a 3-star recruit, has five offers, including FBS offers from Air Force, Idaho and Navy. Putney, a three-star recruit, has six offers, including FBS offers from Air Force, Army, Idaho, Hawaii and a rumored walk-on offer from Washington.
The prestige on the visit last week stuck with Long. He said it’s something Choate used in his recruiting pitch to the coveted lineman.
“(Choate) is excited because there’s recruits, people like me, who have turned down bigger offers to come here,” Long said. “He has too. He’s staying in there and I think everyone a part of the program is pretty excited and think we have a pretty good future.”
With National Signing Day exactly two weeks away, now Montana State will try its best to hold on to some of its top unsigned recruits. As far as Long goes, he does not plan on wavering on his commitment to the Bobcats.
“It feels great to not worry about any more recruiting and know my life is set,” Long said. “I’m excited to get up there. It feels good that I have something for sure and that I’m going to be a Bobcat.”
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