Dominique Long Balances Busy Schedule to Find Success

By Brandon Drain
For MSU Athletic Communications

Michigan State football senior defensive back Dominique Long has a busy daily schedule: early morning lifts, class, studying, practicing and an internship. His life is rigorous, yet rewarding.

Despite all of his external obligations, Long holds a 3.6 GPA while majoring in mechanical engineering. His academic excellence made him a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, an award given to the nation's top scholar athlete – aka the "Academic Heisman."

In addition to excelling in the classroom, he has been a special teams standout during his Spartan career, earning the Downtown Coaches Club for most outstanding player on special teams as a junior in 2019.

For Long, sacrifice is the key to maintain the balance of being an athlete and a high-achieving student.

"It definitely can be stressful," said Long, a native of Columbus, Ohio. "You just have to be very restrictive about making a schedule for yourself and following it and just prioritizing what's important versus what's not important. I have to cut out a good amount of my social time and just focus on my priorities."

Prioritizing, compartmentalizing and staying diligent in one's efforts is a good habit for anyone, not just student-athletes. However, the difficulty in doing so becomes more apparent when time is factored into the equation and for Long…free time isn't abundant.

"Mainly just Saturday evening, if it's an afternoon game, I have a good amount of free-time—that's my relaxing time," said Long, discussing time management. "Then Sunday morning it's back to football."

MSU football went through a coaching change during Long's career, going from Mark Dantonio – who recruited Long – to current Coach Mel Tucker. For seniors like Long, changes in coaching can cause a shift in perspective and the need to adapt quickly.

"That's life for you, you're always going to get curveballs thrown at you," Long, 22, said. "I use the philosophy that Coach D (Dantonio) used to teach us all the time: assess, adjust, then repeat. You have to see the situation for what it is then adjust to whatever's happening and keep it moving."

This same philosophy is used by Long in every situation finds himself in, including taking on the optional tasks of getting an internship. He is gaining workplace experience with AECOM—a premier infrastructure firm.

"Going into mechanical engineering, I was really about going into the automotive industry," said Long. "But now, I'm looking at all the different pathways I could go with that degree. Now I'm taking in all the information and learning all of the different paths you can go in. I'm going to stay open-minded about which pathway I can take."

As Long's senior year is coming near the end, he's started thinking about his future and career trajectory.

"Academically, I want to graduate with a 3.5," said Long, who has earned Academic All-Big Ten honors three times. "If I could go higher and get a 3.7 then great—I'm just trying my best to get the best grades that I can. And athletically, I want to help my team in any way possible. Special teams, defense, just playing my role and helping my team."

With the season coming to a close, as well as his college tenure, Long has set his eyes on the NFL in hopes of living his dreams.

"My plan is to take it day by day," said Long. "Put in effort for self-improvement every day. Put plays on film when it comes to game-day and work on my body and mind day in and out."

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