New DC: Rocky Long (now official)

[orangencpolice]

Well he has already taken advantage of his clothing allowance because according to his pic he is already on the sideline, in the dome with his Syracuse gear on.

 

[djorange1989]

Rocky Long’s record as HC at SDSU.

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
​

SDSU is a very nice campus if you like no snow.

Home

Since its founding in 1897, the university has grown to become a leading public research university, and a federally-designated Hispanic-serving Institution. Dr. Adela de la Torre is the current president of San Diego State University (SDSU).

www.sdsu.edu

The campus is beautiful. The area around it is just blah but it’s blah by San Diego standards so not too bad. The pandemic screwed us out of spending more time there as did having a smart kid who graduated in 3 years (unlike her SU dad who took 4 1/2 years after starting SU a semester ahead!)

 

[djorange1989]

Well he has already taken advantage of his clothing allowance because according to his pic he is already on the sideline, in the dome with his Syracuse gear on.

Is he coaching with JB today?

 

[orangencpolice]

Is he coaching with JB today?

This guy means business!

 

[djorange1989]

didn't realize his success as a head coach. why'd he leave?

He just wanted to coach, he hated all the other stuff a head coach had to do, so he just decided to simplify his life

 

[Toga]

Is he coaching with JB today?

Yes. JB is like a father to him.

 

[zjscuse]

wow what an absolutely insane response from wildhack and dino. what a crazy rollercoaster of emotions, my faith in who we have running the show has grown exponentially with the last few years, responses to all the turmoil.

 

[BillSU]

There is another reason IMO that Rocky Long is coming to SU. He is wasting his talent. The article below talks about that and what they as a university is doing about it and the answer is not much really. But, you need to read the entire article to get the whole picture. Rocky did OK there better than anyone as far as I went with it. But that's a HC position he's a defensive whiz. Can't wait to see him develop our D.

They have to have a football program to be a member of the MWC. The football program is in debt about five million and they are talking about dropping other sports to help out the FB program.

I looked through their schedule from 2000 – 2022 and the best season they had was 2007 at 9-4. The next year 4-8.

Just drop football? Not so fast, says UNM

BY RICK WRIGHT / JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
FRIDAY, APRIL 20TH, 2018 AT 10:55PM
Just drop football, or at least drop to a lower classification. Budget problem solved, right?

Well …

Friday, in a phone interview, University of New Mexico athletic director Eddie Nuñez declined to discuss which of his 22 varsity programs might be in danger of being dropped.

On Tuesday, the UNM Board of Regents approved a budget that calls for “a reduction of sports” in future years as a response to the athletic department’s much-discussed financial woes.

Isn’t football UNM’s most expensive sport? Yes.

Isn’t football the biggest contributor to the athletic department’s whopping, accumulated debt of $4.7 million? Yes.

“UNM football simply does not have a fan base that will ever be able to fund, or nearly fund, the football team,” Albuquerque attorney Dick Minzner wrote in a Journal guest editorial that ran on April 9. “The likely alternatives will be to require other departments of the university to contribute through constraints on their budgets or to require students to contribute through increased tuition or fees. It seems unreasonable that those who do not care about football must subsidize, in ever-increasing amounts, the entertainment of those who do.”

More succinct: A recent contributor to the Journal’s Sports Speak Up! column labeled football “a mediocre money suck.”

Overall​

Conference​

SRS​

Polls​

Rk​

Year​

Conf

W​

L​

T​

Pct​

W​

L​

T​

Pct​

SRS​

SOS​

AP Pre​

AP High​

AP Post​

Coach(es)

Bowl

Notes

1​

2022​

MWC

2​

10​

0​

.167​

0​

8​

0​

.000​

-16.22​

-4.39​

Danny Gonzales (2-10)

2​

2021​

MWC

3​

9​

0​

.250​

1​

7​

0​

.125​

-14.33​

-1.08​

Danny Gonzales (3-9)

3​

2020​

MWC

2​

5​

0​

.286​

2​

5​

0​

.286​

-11.71​

-4.28​

Danny Gonzales (2-5)

4​

2019​

MWC

2​

10​

0​

.167​

0​

8​

0​

.000​

-13.70​

-2.20​

Bob Davie (2-10)

5​

2018​

MWC

3​

9​

0​

.250​

1​

7​

0​

.125​

-11.30​

-3.21​

Bob Davie (3-9)

6​

2017​

MWC

3​

9​

0​

.250​

1​

7​

0​

.125​

-10.38​

-2.38​

Bob Davie (3-9)

7​

2016​

MWC

9​

4​

0​

.692​

6​

2​

0​

.750​

-1.21​

-5.44​

Bob Davie (9-4)

New Mexico Bowl-W

8​

2015​

MWC

7​

6​

0​

.538​

5​

3​

0​

.625​

-6.61​

-5.84​

Bob Davie (7-6)

New Mexico Bowl-L

9​

2014​

MWC

4​

8​

0​

.333​

2​

6​

0​

.250​

-7.80​

-2.14​

Bob Davie (4-8)

10​

2013​

MWC

3​

9​

0​

.250​

1​

7​

0​

.125​

-14.10​

-4.52​

Bob Davie (3-9)

11​

2012​

MWC

4​

9​

0​

.308​

1​

7​

0​

.125​

-9.91​

-5.76​

Bob Davie (4-9)

12​

2011​

MWC

1​

11​

0​

.083​

1​

6​

0​

.143​

-19.31​

-1.81​

Mike Locksley (0-4), George Barlow (1-7)

13​

2010​

MWC

1​

11​

0​

.083​

1​

7​

0​

.125​

-17.76​

0.57​

Mike Locksley (1-11)

14​

2009​

MWC

1​

11​

0​

.083​

1​

7​

0​

.125​

-15.80​

0.45​

Mike Locksley (1-11)

15​

2008​

MWC

4​

8​

0​

.333​

2​

6​

0​

.250​

-4.18​

-0.35​

Rocky Long (4-8)

16​

2007​

MWC

9​

4​

0​

.692​

5​

3​

0​

.625​

2.49​

-2.67​

Rocky Long (9-4)

New Mexico Bowl-W

17​

2006​

MWC

6​

7​

0​

.462​

4​

4​

0​

.500​

-3.75​

-2.29​

Rocky Long (6-7)

New Mexico Bowl-L

18​

2005​

MWC

6​

5​

0​

.545​

4​

4​

0​

.500​

-2.51​

-3.15​

Rocky Long (6-5)

19​

2004​

MWC

7​

5​

0​

.583​

5​

2​

0​

.714​

4.24​

3.33​

Rocky Long (7-5)

Emerald Bowl-L

20​

2003​

MWC

8​

5​

0​

.615​

5​

2​

0​

.714​

4.74​

-0.65​

Rocky Long (8-5)

Las Vegas Bowl-L

Rk​

Year​

Conf

W​

L​

T​

Pct​

W​

L​

T​

Pct​

SRS​

SOS​

AP Pre​

AP High​

AP Post​

Coach(es)

Bowl

Notes

21​

2002​

MWC

7​

7​

0​

.500​

5​

2​

0​

.714​

-3.03​

-3.03​

Rocky Long (7-7)

Las Vegas Bowl-L

22​

2001​

MWC

6​

5​

0​

.545​

4​

3​

0​

.571​

-0.60​

-3.60​

Rocky Long (6-5)

23​

2000​

MWC

5​

7​

0​

.417​

3​

4​

0​

.429​

-4.00​

-0.75​

Rocky Long (5-7)

Just drop football? Not so fast, says UNM - Albuquerque Journal (abqjournal.com)

 

[Deleted member 8116]

Do the posters at nunes always have terrible takes? I rarely go over there due to that, but checking it out today it would appear things never change.

 

[Tango32]

Do the posters at nunes always have terrible takes? I rarely go over there due to that, but checking it out today it would appear things never change.

I was over there wayyy long before I came here. I finally got so tired of the idiocy that I came here and haven’t logged back in. It’s terrible there

 

[rrlbees]

Yes. JB is like a father to him.

That’s actually funny. Well done.

 

[sufandu]

Well I mean people need to understand too that not everyone wants to be the boss - some people are perfectly content being an exceptional specialist whether it’s football or corporate life. We all just assume Monroe wants to be a DC.

Yeah, if you can make a good payday and not have to take all the heat for everything every week, that's not a bad place to be.

 

[sufandu]

Love to see Monroe's tweet in support. He's such a valuable part of this staff and hope he can develop into DC eventually.

On Rocky Long, seems short of keeping Tony White there is no better option to fit our talent - literally invented the 335 - and has delivered tremendous results. I'm super pumped we've come back strong after some tough news.

Anyone know why we went White over Long two years ago? Were tehy both actual candidates?

Lets' go 2023...excited to see them in the Pinstripe live!

I believe what was said at the time was that Long wasn't interested but he recommended Arnett. I can't remember if he also recommended White, but it would make sense that he would have.

 

[MSOrange]

 

[Cheriehoop]

Monroe does not appear to be upset. I imagine DC would have been a huge jump for him. Probably a touch of a relief having a veteran like Long come in to learn under for a few years before being considered for a DC position.

Also how many seasons will Coach Long continue to coach? Learning and implementing strategies from another defensive guru will only help and accelerate his own career.

 

[ForCuseSake]

 

[Moontan]

Anyone know why we went White over Long two years ago? Were tehy both actual candidates?

He apparently wasn’t interested at the time, but we hired both of his recommendations.

Zach Arnett Named Defensive Coordinator - Syracuse University Athletics

Arnett directed a 2019 San Diego State defense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in seven different categories.

cuse.com

 

[SU94]

He apparently wasn’t interested at the time, but we hired both of his recommendations.

Zach Arnett Named Defensive Coordinator - Syracuse University Athletics

Arnett directed a 2019 San Diego State defense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in seven different categories.

cuse.com

I posted this in Jan. 2020, when we almost hired him. Note that I did not update the numbers, but they do paint a pretty picture of his football coaching prowess. He knows talent. He’ll identify and recruit talent. Sleep on Rocky Long at your own risk!


(Jan. 2020)
It seems most here are beginning to appreciate the notion of Rocky Long as SU's DC.

For the non-converted, consider:

• He has taken SDSU to 9 bowl games in nine years (4-5 record). The Aztecs went to four other bowl games from 1969-2010 (41 years) when competing as what is essentially a Division 1 school.
• Long took his alma mater, Univ. of New Mexico, to five bowl games in six years as HC from 2002-07. The Lobos have been to a total of 13 bowl games in program history dating to the late 1930s.
• Since 2011, SDSU has defeated Stanford, Arizona State (twice), UCLA, Washington State, Cal, BYU, Cincinnati and Houston. There were a number of close defeats in there too: UNC and Missouri caught my eye.

For those that doubt Long's intentions here

• After helping UNM achieve bowl eligibility for seven straight seasons, Long resigned after 2008 to become a DC at SDSU (a conference foe). He was SDSU's DC for 2 years before being elevated to HC when Brady Hoke departed for Michigan.

Long shoulda/woulda been a serious candidate for the USC job, with his age being the lone demerit. He is arguably the best football coach on the West Coast (I would say that he is). For the last decade, he's neck and neck with USC and Stanford for the best Division I program in the state of California, and that is saying something. With relevant context -- aka pound-for-pound, resource-for-resource -- there is no doubt San Diego State is just that.

I don't think people here realize what an absolute dump the Aztecs' home stadium is (formerly Jack Murphy-turned-Qualcomm Stadium). Long has very little to recruit toward, other than the San Diego weather and somewhat lax academic standards (compared to Cal, USC, UCLA, Stanford, etc.). This last point also helps underscore the fact that Long is adept at finding and recruiting "non-traditional" football talent, which is a skill that Dino needs more of in the SU Football Office. Long has also had 18 Aztecs drafted since 2011. In that same span, our SU program has had 12 players selected.

To call this a home run hire would not do it justice. Grand slam.

 

[Goin' Deep]

Achuff, Monroe West

WAx Thompson Sparrow Lowery Roon

Transfers from ND Nebraska and Bama

I dunno fellas, I'd feel a whole lot better if Rocky had something to work with.

 

[BillSU]

I think Rocky Long will continue to coach as long as he possibly can and if he has his health.

Just looking at his resume and the difficulty of winning each game in the FBS, this man is one tough SOB and will not tolerate losing.

Of course I have no idea, no crystal ball, nothing to help me say exactly how long he will extend his career, but going by his record, switching from NM to SDSU and back, winning so much of his career knowing the 335, having developed it - it seems to me, he will, after seeing how quickly he jumped at the chance to become DC at Syracuse, he will be here coaching for as long as he can.

I hope my forecast is full of blue skies and Rocky Long's SU Defense stopping every team on our schedule's O.

Hallelujah! (edit): This man is a great coach, thank you Dino and JW for hiring him.

 

[ApexLobo]

Hello, Lobo fan here. I signed up here to point out that Rocky Long is not in fact the original architect of the 3-3-5 defense. That achievement belongs to the late, but great, Joe Lee Dunn. Rocky learned from him. Joe Lee Dunn is Yoda and Rocky is Luke.

Enjoy your new DC. He is a football genius.

 

[zjscuse]

Hello, Lobo fan here. I signed up here to point out that Rocky Long is not in fact the original architect of the 3-3-5 defense. That achievement belongs to the late, but great, Joe Lee Dunn. Rocky learned from him. Joe Lee Dunn is Yoda and Rocky is Luke.

Enjoy your new DC. He is a football genius.

Stick around this is a fun place ( well maybe take some live game day threads at value). But we have fun here.

 

[texacuse]

For those of us Orangemen fans who may not be familiar with the movie “City Slickers”, it was a 1991 movie theatre flick starring Billy Crystal among a few others but one of the other principal characters was a very old, irascible, but well meaning wise, strong, (did I say old), ranch hand boss actor named Jack Palance who played the part of Curly. The character of Curly was quite memorable and entertaining as I recall to say the least. Rocky definitely reminds me quite a bit of Jack Palance or Curly.
All of this is a prelude to say that Rocky Long appears to me to be in the mold, likeness and no nonsense image of ‘Curly” in City Slickers and if Rocky is only somewhat as witty, crusty and capable as old “Curly”, he could be another legend of the football “Boys of Syracuse” like our beloved Coach Mac. I can see him writing another chapter in Syracuse football lore also in the same way that DC Buddy Ryan was revered by the fans and players alike for his genius and fierce mentality leading the defense of the NFL champion 1985 Chicago Bears. Buddy Ryan was the architect of the “46 defense” which was as unique as it was nearly unbeatable in its day. I also mention the history of Buddy Ryan and the 1985 Bears because I believe that our defense could be as talented, fierce, fast, beguiling and indefatigable in the ACC as the champion 1985 Bears were in the NFL.
I believe that the ceiling for Mr. Rocky (Curly) Long and the legend of the Syracuse defense will grow from being the MOB under the apprenticeship of TW into the perennial SYR MOB BOSS of the ACC under the master mafioso chief himself. We are watching the birth of a new dynasty in Syracuse football in whose defense will one day be entrusted into the young and talented Swag Daddy’s hands inherited from the master DC himself. From Rocky (Curly) to the Swag Daddy the future looks so bright and entertaining we are going to have to wear shades. We are going to look back at this time one day in the future and point to it as the beginning of the good old days here to stay again and that we were the fortunate fans here to witness it again.
Oh there might be another bump or two along the way, but you don’t get to have the crusty, wise old experience of Rocky or Curly without surviving a few potholes and arrows or even grenades from time to time like Dino, Rocky or Curly have. Our defense is being forged like steel in fire and I believe that it shall be respected and prevail more and more in the seasons and years ahead.
Incidentally, if our team would ever be so inclined to embrace being the MOB BOSS character of Syracuse and the ACC, and as an annual award for the player whose courage, toughness, character, leadership and defensive stalwart mentality can be recognized as the MVP of the MOB, in this year I would preliminarily nominate Mr. Kevon Darton as the first winner of this prestigious award name which could also contain the name of another Syracuse great TBD. Mr. Rocky Long is and shall continue to be a no nonsense respected and respectful leader of men and fortunately for us he is now with us…the Orangemen.

 

[kcsu]

What an excellent job by Dino, the staff and JW. Dinos strength is as a CEO leader and its really showing.
He was decisive in securing Beck. His quick elevation of Nick into acting DC and the subsequent landing of Rocky is possibly the best work he has done. Really solid exceptional response to White leaving. Landing the transfers and bringing Wilson back is an indication that Dino and the staff are firing at a very high level.
Jw is obviously doing a great job providing the support, and resources for Dino.
Best off season i can remember in a very long time. In my opinion we are coming out of this with a better staff and team.
Landing the SC stud would be the cherry on top. Great job by Dino.

 

[SmilinBob]

Nice job landing the original football Rock SU. Looking forward to some good D and having him teach the current staff/team all the ins and outs of the 3-3-5 is a major win win.