Chuck Long

Charles Franklin Long Jr. (born February 18, 1963) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Arlington Renegades of the United Football League (UFL).

He played as a quarterback in college for the Iowa Hawkeyes under coach Hayden Fry and professionally with the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL).

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.

Long redshirted for the Iowa Hawkeyes in 1981.

However, the redshirting rule was new, so Long was only able to take a couple of snaps 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; because of this, he later became the first College Football Player to ever play in five bowl games.

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.

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 the 1983 season 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.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

After his professional career, Long was an assistant coach at Iowa and Oklahoma before serving as the head football coach for the San Diego State Aztecs.

Long also held a position as the offensive coordinator for the Kansas Jayhawks under head coach Turner Gill.

Long is the CEO and executive director of the Iowa Sports Foundation, the organization that runs the Iowa Games, the Senior Games, Adaptive Sports Iowa, Iowa Corporate Games and the Live Healthy Iowa challenge, as well as an analyst for the Big Ten Network.

Born in Norman, Oklahoma, and raised in Wheaton, Illinois, Long attended Wheaton North High School and played football, basketball and baseball under Jim Rexilius.

The current redshirt rule (2018) allows a player to participate in up to four games during his/her redshirt season and retain a year of eligibility.