Rocky Long has stepped down at San Diego State. Here are all the details on that move + why Syracuse football is hoping to make him their next DC.
Syracuse football adding Rocky Long as their next defensive coordinator just became more realistic on Wednesday.
Long-time San Diego State head coach Rocky Long has “stepped down” from his position as head coach to pursue opportunities as a defensive coordinator, per Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.
In case you missed it Long was in Syracuse interviewing for the vacant defensive coordinator role earlier this week. At the time of the visit with Dino Babers, Rocky Long was still holding the title of head coach of the Aztecs.
"On Wednesday, San Diego State announced that Rocky Long “has retired” as head coach of the Aztecs. Despite the retirement wording from the University, ESPN reports, “that Long who turns 70 later this month, expects to keep working, likely as a defensive coordinator.”"
If Syracuse football is able to land Long it’ll be a major win for the program.
Rocky finished as the second-winningest coach in San Diego State history (81-38, a .681 winning percentage), leading the Aztecs to three Mountain West titles and bowl games in all nine seasons at the helm, per the University.
He’s coming off a 10 win campaign in 2019 after throttling Central Michigan in the New Mexico Bowl 48-11. The Aztecs are one of 10 schools that have won at least 10 games in four of the last five seasons, all of those led by Rocky Long.
While on the surface it seems strange that a coach with this much success would leave a University still looking to coach football, but there seems to be a reason why.
Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported that SDSU was pushing Rocky Long to make staff changes and “he didn’t want the Aztecs telling him what to do with his program.”
When you’re a head coach you have to make a lot of these tough decisions. Dino Babers, for instance, had to fire his old defensive coordinator Brian Ward and he’s been thinking of making other changes. Dino said this was the first time he’s ever had to fire members of his coaching staff.
This also explains why Rocky Long would want to take a lesser role as a defensive coordinator.
Speaking of the defensive coordinator role, what chops does Long have as a defensive mastermind? Here are some answers:
"“Since Long took over as the defensive coordinator in 2009, San Diego State ranks 11th in rush defense (129.6) and interceptions (163), 14th in total defense (340.4), 20th in scoring defense (22.2), 22nd in turnovers caused (255) and 26th in defensive pass efficiency (122.0). In the last 7 games of the 2019 season, the Aztecs ranked fifth in the nation in allowing 4.7 yards per play while limiting the opposition to 19 points or less on five occasions.” – per SDSU."
On paper, there are no direct links between Rocky Long and Dino Babers, but they have both worked at San Diego State (at separate times during their coaching careers).
For Syracuse fans wondering what kind of defense Rocky Long would bring to the hill, he runs a 3-3-5 “Fire Ant” defense.
What is that?
Well, Rocky Long first started picking up concepts of his unique defense back with Joe Lee Dunn. Rocky got his first collegiate opportunity with the Lobos back in 1978 and then after a coaching change was retained in 1980.
Here are some details on the 3-3-5 concepts and why it would end up having success via Jack Harris of 247 Sports:
"“At its core, Dunn’s philosophy was simple. He was always looking for ways to maximize the talent of his teams. Exceptional size, especially back in those days, was a rare commodity on the recruiting trail, a luxury not enjoyed by many small schools, UNM included. But speed? That was easier to find in high school prospects. Dunn decided to build his defense around it, wanting to utilize it at every position. “You have to think about the demographics of the area,” Dunn said. “We had undersized defensive linemen. So we converted our speed into the strength of our defense and pretty much our game plan was to fire in all directions and then let nothing over the top in Cover 3. “We wanted to be able to blitz with all 11 players. We were dealing with (opponents that used) a pro-style, slower passing game. That allowed us to put pressure on the quarterback.” Dunn realized that it was a fool’s errand to try and play with four or five defensive linemen and hope his smaller roster could overpower bigger opponents up front. He deemed the best way to combat power run games was to move guys off the line of scrimmage and into the second level, where they could confuse the opposition with quickness and misdirection.”"
While Long and Dunn technically only worked together for one season back in 1980, it had a tremendous impact on how Rocky decided to coach defenses moving forward.
Rocky uses a lot of formations with three linemen hovering around the line of scrimmage who have options to move around, blitz, and drop into coverage. Also, he introduced the “rover” position on the defense which is a hybrid player that holds linebacker and safety responsibilities.
Long is heralded for making his schemes “player-friendly” which should jive well with the Syracuse football squad.
The pride and joy of Rocky Long is Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher back in New Mexico. He helped transform him into a player that would haunt NFL offenses for decades. In his 3-3-5 defense, Urlacher essentially played safety in the pre-spread era and he was the perfect versatile piece for the defense.
It’s a defense that isn’t stale and continues to evolve with its personnel. Which is exactly what the Syracuse football team needs in 2020. This is an adapt or die world and despite Rocky Long being an older coach at almost 70 years of age, he possesses a long track record of successfully rolling with the punches. Dino Babers better put on his recruiting hat and get this deal signed and delivered sooner rather than later.