Rocky Long
Roderick John Long Jr. (born January 27, 1950) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the defensive coordinator at Syracuse. Prior to being hired by Syracuse, Long was the defensive coordinator at New Mexico. He played professionally with BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Detroit Wheels of World Football League (WFL).
 Long at 2016 Mountain West Media Days | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Defensive coordinator |
| Team | Syracuse |
| Conference | ACC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | January 27, 1950 Provo, Utah, U.S. |
| Alma mater | New Mexico (BEd) |
| Playing career | |
| 1969–1971 | New Mexico |
| 1972–1973 | BC Lions |
| 1974 | Detroit Wheels |
| 1975–1976 | BC Lions |
| Position(s) | Defensive back, quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1972–1973 | New Mexico (GA) |
| 1974–1975 | Eldorado HS (NM) (assistant) |
| 1978 | New Mexico (OB) |
| 1979–1980 | New Mexico (DB) |
| 1981–1985 | Wyoming (DC/DB) |
| 1986–1987 | BC Lions (LB) |
| 1988–1990 | TCU (DB) |
| 1991–1995 | Oregon State (DC) |
| 1996–1997 | UCLA (DC) |
| 1998–2008 | New Mexico |
| 2009–2010 | San Diego State (DC) |
| 2011–2019 | San Diego State |
| 2020–2022 | New Mexico (DC/LB) |
| 2023–present | Syracuse (DC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 146–107 |
| Bowls | 5–9 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3 MWC (2012, 2015, 2016) | |
| Awards | |
| CFL Western All-Star (1977) | |
Long is known for his successful adaptation of a modified 3-3-5 defensive scheme.[1][2][3]
Playing career
Long was the starting quarterback for the New Mexico Lobos football team from 1969 to 1971, recording consecutive winning seasons and earning player-of-the-year honors in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 1971. His professional career began with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) in 1972, with which he played 68 games in total. In 1974, he departed to the Detroit Wheels of the World Football League (WFL). That year, he intercepted three passes for 38 return yards, and returned 20 punts for 217 yards and 14 kickoffs for 402 yards. He returned to the Lions for three years and had one of his best years in 1975, when he intercepted a team high eight passes for 88 yards. A Western All-Star in 1977, Long also led the team in punt returns in his last three years, and is still the fourth leading all-time returner, with 1946 yards on 192 punt returns, with one touchdown.
Coaching career
Long began developing his version of the 3-3-5 defensive scheme during his stint as the defensive coordinator at Oregon State.[1]
Long returned to New Mexico as the head football coach on December 20, 1997. His overall won-loss record was 65–69 in 11 seasons. His 65 wins are the most of any head coach in program history. Long surpassed Roy W. Johnson's mark of 41 wins during the 2005 season.
Long led the Lobos to three straight bowl games from 2003 to 2005, a first in program history. The Lobos were bowl-eligible for seven straight seasons, from 2001 to 2007, another program record. This streak continued into the 2007 season as the Lobos accepted a bid to the New Mexico Bowl, where Long garnered his bowl win with a victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack.
After an 11-season career, Long resigned on November 17, 2008, two days after the Lobos' regular game season ended. Long cited that he was not the right person to lead the program to newer heights. He added that he had no plans of retirement, and that he wanted to continue to coach as a coordinator.[4] In 2011, he was promoted to head coach at San Diego State after two seasons as their defensive coordinator.
In 2020, Long resigned from San Diego State, and Brady Hoke was named as his replacement.[5] He left San Diego State with 81 wins, second all time in wins behind Don Coryell.[6] Soon after his resignation from SDSU, the University of New Mexico announced Long would be returning to the Lobos to take over as their defensive coordinator under new coach Danny Gonzales, a former player and assistant coach under Long at UNM as well as SDSU.[7][8]
In 2022, Long was hired at Syracuse University as the defensive coordinator under Dino Babers.[9][10]
Personal life
Long and his wife, Debby, have two daughters, Roxanne and Hannah, who are also coaches. Roxanne is the former women's basketball program head coach at Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma,[11] and Hannah is the women's volleyball program head coach at Queens University of Charlotte.[12]
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico Lobos (Western Athletic Conference) (1998) | |||||||||
| 1998 | New Mexico | 3–9 | 1–7 | 7th (Pacific) | |||||
| New Mexico Lobos (Mountain West Conference) (1999–2008) | |||||||||
| 1999 | New Mexico | 4–7 | 3–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 2000 | New Mexico | 5–7 | 3–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 2001 | New Mexico | 6–5 | 4–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 2002 | New Mexico | 7–7 | 5–2 | 2nd | L Las Vegas | ||||
| 2003 | New Mexico | 8–5 | 5–2 | 2nd | L Las Vegas | ||||
| 2004 | New Mexico | 7–5 | 5–2 | 2nd | L Emerald | ||||
| 2005 | New Mexico | 6–5 | 4–4 | T–4th | |||||
| 2006 | New Mexico | 6–7 | 4–4 | 5th | L New Mexico | ||||
| 2007 | New Mexico | 9–4 | 5–3 | T–3rd | W New Mexico | ||||
| 2008 | New Mexico | 4–8 | 2–6 | 7th | |||||
| New Mexico: | 65–69 | 40–34 | |||||||
| San Diego State Aztecs (Mountain West Conference) (2011–2019) | |||||||||
| 2011 | San Diego State | 8–5 | 4–3 | 4th | L New Orleans | ||||
| 2012 | San Diego State | 9–4 | 7–1 | T–1st | L Poinsettia | ||||
| 2013 | San Diego State | 8–5 | 6–2 | 2nd (West) | W Famous Idaho Potato | ||||
| 2014 | San Diego State | 7–6 | 5–3 | T–1st (West) | L Poinsettia | ||||
| 2015 | San Diego State | 11–3 | 8–0 | 1st (West) | W Hawaii | ||||
| 2016 | San Diego State | 11–3 | 6–2 | 1st (West) | W Las Vegas | 25 | 25 | ||
| 2017 | San Diego State | 10–3 | 6–2 | 2nd (West) | L Armed Forces | ||||
| 2018 | San Diego State | 7–6 | 4–4 | 4th (West) | L Frisco | ||||
| 2019 | San Diego State | 10–3 | 5–3 | T–1st (West) | W New Mexico | ||||
| San Diego State: | 81–38 | 51–20 | |||||||
| Total: | 146–107 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
References
- Alandt, Anthony; Miller, Wyatt (31 August 2023). "THE GODFATHER: Syracuse's new DC pioneered its go-to defensive set". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- Boyd, Ian (5 July 2017). "The Aztec defender". Football Study Hall. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- Harris, Jack (September 14, 2018). "Origin story of the 3-3-5 defense employed by ASU and SDSU". 247Sports. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- "New Mexico's winningest coach Long steps down".
- Kenney, Kirk (January 8, 2020). "Aztecs' Rocky Long to resign; Brady Hoke will be head coach". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- "San Diego State coach Rocky Long retires from position, Brady Hoke takes over Aztecs' program". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "Former San Diego State coach Rocky Long returns to New Mexico to serve as Lobos DC".
- "Rocky Long returning to Lobos as defensive coordinator - Albuquerque Journal".
- "Defensive Innovator Rocky Long Named New 'Cuse DC". Syracuse University Athletics. 2022-12-17. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- Wright, Rick (December 17, 2022). "Rocky Long leaving UNM football for Syracuse". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- "Rogers St". Archived from the original on June 19, 2013.
- "2016 Women's Volleyball Coaching Staff".