Chuck Long Charles Franklin " Chuck " Long , Jr . ( born February 18 , 1963 ) is an American football coach . He played quarterback in college at Iowa for Hayden Fry and professionally with the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams . He is an inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame . In the January 2008 issue of " San Diego Magazine " he was chosen as one of the " 50 People to Watch in 2008 " . He was fired by San Diego State University as its head football coach on November 23 , 2008 . Long was the offensive coordinator for the Kansas Jayhawks under head coach Turner Gill . before Gill was fired in 2011 . As of summer 2013 , he is an analyst for the Big Ten Network Background . Born in Norman , Oklahoma , and raised in Wheaton , Illinois , Long attended Wheaton North High School and played football , basketball and baseball under Jim Rexilius . He led his team to the 1979 state title in football as the starting quarterback and was named to the all - state championship squad . Long also gathered all - state honors in 1980 . Still , Long was not heavily recruited out of high school , as Long averaged only five to six pass attempts per game . As a result , he did not receive his first recruiting call until Thanksgiving of his senior year . Just three schools looked into offering him a scholarship : Northern Illinois , Northwestern , and Iowa . Long eventually accepted a scholarship to play at Iowa for future Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry . College career . Early years . Long redshirted for the Iowa Hawkeyes in 1981 . However , the redshirting rule was new , so Long was able to take a couple of snaps during his redshirt season . The rule has since been changed ; now , a player cannot participate in a single play during his redshirt season . While Long played very sparingly in 1981 , he did run a couple of plays at the very end of the 1982 Rose Bowl . Before the 1982 season , Hayden Fry said that Long was " destined for greatness " , which was a bold statement considering that Long was so lightly recruited out of high school . Long started in the first game of the 1982 season , but he was benched for a game after a loss to Nebraska . He was reinserted as a starter in the third game of the 1982 season and led Iowa to a win over Arizona . Long never lost his starting spot again while at Iowa . Long threw for 1 , 374 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman . It was the third most passing yardage in a single season ever at Iowa , behind Gary Snook and Larry Lawrence . His 64 . 2 completion percentage was a school record . Iowa had a 7 – 4 record before defeating Tennessee in the 1982 Peach Bowl . Long was the offensive player of the game after completing 19 of 26 passes for a career high 304 yards . As a sophomore in 1983 , Long passed for a school record 345 yards in a 42 – 35 win at Penn State . It is still the most points ever scored against Penn State in Happy Valley as Nebraska ' s 1983 Turner Gill led 44 - 6 victory over Penn State was at the Meadowlands in the Kickoff Classic . A few weeks later , he completed just 12 of 27 passes in a loss to Illinois ; it would be the only time in his college career as a starter that he failed to complete at least half of his passes . The following week against Northwestern , Long broke his own school record for passing yards and helped Iowa set a new conference record with 713 yards of total offense . He accounted for 398 yards of total offense , also a school record . By the end of his sophomore year , Long owned Iowa ' s school records for yards passing in a season and a career , touchdown passes in a season and a career , and total offense in a season and a career . He led Iowa to a 9 – 2 record in 1983 and a berth in the Gator Bowl after being named first team all - Big Ten . Long was again an all - Big Ten selection as a junior in 1984 , as he finished first in the Big Ten in passing efficiency . Long completed 22 consecutive passes against Indiana , setting an NCAA record . He also finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy balloting as a junior . Iowa had a 7 - 4 - 1 record after the 1984 regular season and accepted an invitation to the Freedom Bowl against Texas . A windy , rainy day did not slow Long in what some felt might be his final college game . Iowa destroyed Texas , 55 – 17 , the second most points ever scored against Texas and the most in 80 years . Long broke a 24 – 17 game at halftime wide open by completing 12 of 14 passes for 241 yards and four touchdowns in the third quarter alone . For the game , Long was offensive MVP as he completed a school record 29 passes in 39 attempts for a bowl record 461 yards and a bowl record 6 touchdowns . The 1985 season . After much consideration , Long delighted Iowa Hawkeye fans by declaring that he would return for his senior season . He became an instant Heisman Trophy candidate , and Iowa was a preseason top five team . After three weeks in 1985 , the Hawkeyes ascended to # 1 in the national rankings . In Iowa ' s first game at # 1 , the Hawkeyes played Michigan State . A seesaw game had Michigan State leading , 31 - 28 , in the waning minutes . Long drove Iowa the length of the field , and the Hawkeyes faced fourth and goal from the two - yard line with just 27 seconds remaining . Since college football had no overtime rule at the time , Iowa needed to go for the touchdown and the win rather than attempt a tie . Long faked a handoff to running back Ronnie Harmon and then ran to his right . His fake had fooled the Spartan defenders , and Long ran into the endzone , holding the ball high above his head as he crossed the goal line to give Iowa a 35 - 31 victory . He completed a school record 30 passes on 39 attempts for 380 yards and scored five touchdowns ( four passing and the game winning score rushing ) in the game . Two weeks later , # 1 Iowa faced # 2 Michigan in Kinnick Stadium . Iowa trailed 10 - 9 as the Hawkeyes regained possession of the football at their own 22 - yard line with just 5 : 27 remaining in the game . Long led Iowa on a 66 - yard drive against the nation ' s top ranked defense , twice converting third - and - eight situations by completing passes to tight end Mike Flagg . Long drove the Iowa team to the 12 - yard line with two seconds remaining to set up kicker Rob Houghtlin ' s game winning field goal as time expired . Long completed 26 of 39 passes for 297 yards in Iowa ' s 12 - 10 win . A loss to Ohio State cost Iowa their # 1 ranking , but the Hawkeyes still won the Big Ten title outright for the first time in 27 years . Long won many major national awards as a senior , including the 1985 Maxwell Award , given to the nation ' s top player and the Davey O ' Brien Award , given to the nation ' s top quarterback . He was the Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus first team All - American . Finally , Long was the runner - up for the Heisman Trophy to Bo Jackson of Auburn in the second closest race in the award ' s history , losing by just 45 points . Though Iowa lost in Long ' s final game in the 1986 Rose Bowl , the loophole with the redshirting rule allowed Long to play in his fifth bowl game . He is believed to be the only collegiate player to participate in five bowl games . Long ' s Iowa teams compiled a 35 - 13 - 1 record . He graduated with 10 , 461 passing yards and 74 touchdowns on 782 completions . He held every passing record at the University of Iowa except one ( passes attempted in a game ) when he graduated . Long holds the best completion percentage of any college quarterback all - time who has attempted more than 1 , 000 career passes . He was also the first Big Ten player and just the second player in college football history to throw for more than 10 , 000 yards in a career . The first was Doug Flutie . Long was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 . Professional career . Drafted # 12 overall by the Detroit Lions in the 1986 NFL Draft , Long ' s NFL career was disappointing . During Long ' s rookie season in the NFL , he was called into a game after an injury suffered by then - starting quarterback Joe Ferguson . On his first career NFL pass attempt , Long threw a 64 - yard touchdown pass against Tampa Bay . His best season was 1987 , in which he threw 2 , 598 yards , 11 touchdowns and 20 interceptions . Long played for the Lions from 1986 – 1989 before being traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 1990 . After one year in Los Angeles , Long returned to Detroit for the 1991 season , though he did not attempt any passes . Coaching career . Long transitioned to a career as a football coach . He returned to his alma mater in 1995 , serving as Iowa ' s defensive backs coach . Though Long had no coaching experience and had played on the offensive side of the ball for his entire career , he quickly became a respected defensive coach . In his three seasons coaching defensive backs from 1995 – 1997 , Iowa posted a 24 – 12 record and advanced to a bowl game all three years . Iowa led the nation in interceptions returned for touchdowns in 1995 , while the 1997 squad led the Big Ten in interceptions . Long switched to coaching Iowa ' s quarterbacks and special teams in 1998 . After the 1998 season , Iowa coach Hayden Fry retired , and though Long was considered for the job , Fry was ultimately succeeded by Kirk Ferentz . Ferentz retained Long from Fry ' s staff , and Long served Ferentz in the same capacity for the 1999 season . After five seasons coaching at Iowa , Long left the Hawkeyes to become the quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma . Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Long were teammates on Iowa ' s 1982 Rose Bowl team . Long was an assistant on the Oklahoma team that claimed the 2000 Bowl Championship Series national title . He coached quarterback Josh Heupel to a second place finish in the Heisman Trophy balloting that year . After the 2001 season , Long was promoted to Oklahoma ' s offensive coordinator position . Oklahoma won the Rose Bowl following the 2002 season , and in 2003 , the Sooners set a Big 12 Conference record by averaging 51 . 5 points per game . In 2004 , Long was named as a finalist for the Broyles Award as the nation ' s top assistant coach . He was an assistant coach at Oklahoma for six seasons , including four as an offensive coordinator , and Oklahoma compiled a 67 – 11 record during his time there . After the 2005 season , Long landed his first head coaching position when he was hired as the 16th head football coach at San Diego State University . Long had a record of 9 – 27 in three seasons as SDSU ' s head coach . On November 23 , 2008 , college president Stephen Weber announced that Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel had dismissed Long prior to the final game of the season . Coach Long finished his third season only winning 2 out of 12 games , including the one conference win on his final night . San Diego State finished the 2008 season with a 2 – 10 record , the first and only ten - loss season in school history . Long also had the distinction of having his team lose two games to Division 1 - AA Cal Poly San Luis Obispo ( in his first and third seasons with the Aztecs , respectively ) . Long was offensive coordinator for the Kansas Jayhawks . Long became part of the coaching staff under head coach Turner Gill after the departure of Mark Mangino , Long ' s former co - worker at Oklahoma . In 2012 , Long became receivers coach with the Norman High School Tigers , Norman , Oklahoma Family . Long and his wife , Lisa have three daughters ; Lindsay , Samantha , and Maddy , and two sons ; Nathan and Zachary .