JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Chuck Long is arguably the greatest quarterback in Iowa history and is one of the ten best passers in league history. Long's name is still prominent in Big Ten annals despite having taken his last collegiate snap in January of 1986.
Listed below are the categories and Big Ten ranking for Long:
Career Passing Yards: 10,254 (8th...was #1 when he graduated and only QB in Top 10 to have played before 1997)
Career Completions: 8th
Single Season Completion Percentages: 7th best of .671 in 1984 & 8th best of .670 in 1985
Career Completion Percentage: 3rd (.650)
TD Passes in a Season: His 27 in 1985 ranks 8th
TD Passes in a Career: His 74 ranks 3rd
Record for consecutive completions: 22 against Indiana in 1984
One of 8 QB's to have thrown six or more TD's in a game, which former Hawkeye Chuck Hartlieb #1 with seven. Long did it twice.
He won the Davey O'Brien and Maxwell Awards in 1985 and was runner up to Bo Jackson in the 1985 Heisman Trophy balloting, the closest ballot in the award's history until 2009.
Long has made a return to Iowa and is living in Cedar Rapids where he works as a Business Development Executive for Holmes-Murphy Insurance, a company who is headquartered in Des Moines. He is also doing color commentary and studio work for the BTN and will be on the call in Iowa City for this weekend's opener.
We'll be chatting with Long each week this Iowa football season and this item begins our discussions.
Q: You were able to see Iowa’s offense last year and you have taken in a few practices this year. What are the improvements that you have seen and why will things be better this year than last?
Chuck Long: The number one improvement I have seen from the offense is I think they have more of an understanding of where they want to go. What I mean by that is I thought last year they were not on the same page with what Kirk wanted to do and what Greg Davis wanted to do. I think they were feeling each other out and it has taken a year to do that. I do believe this year, in the practices I have seen, they have more of a definitive philosophy on how they want to attack defenses. It took Greg a year to understand a) the Big Ten and b) Iowa and where they are at. I think that will help him.
He was so used to that Texas speed and with the wide receivers getting the ball in their hands and make someone miss...that’s not going to necessarily work in the Big Ten and at Iowa. You don’t have that speed at Iowa. They are on a better page philosophically of where they want to go and how they attack. I felt that in seeing their practices. They will play to the strengths of their running backs. It really gets simple when you have a brand new quarterback. You can’t do everything you’d like with a new quarterback anyway, so this condenses you automatically which will bode well this year. They will be in a lot better way offensively.
Q: They’ve done a lot with the no huddle in the spring and again this fall...what do you think the biggest benefit will be from Iowa’s no huddle or what are the benefits of not huddling?
Long: There are two big benefits of not huddling. The first is you get the chalk in your hand last. You know exactly what a defense is going to do by not huddling. You will see where they will freeze a count and then they will look to the sideline. What they are doing there is the coaches devise a way to freeze the defense to make them stand still, so the offense knows exactly what they are doing. When they look back, they get to the best play possible. In the offensive world, we call that getting the chalk in our hand last. We will come up with the best play in the end, not the defense.
The second benefit is that it tires out a defense. It keeps out the blitzing when you no huddle, you can’t blitz as much especially when you go fast. It also tires them out by the fourth quarter where tackling gets sloppy. You will see it time and time again if you keep the same defensive personnel in the game without much subbing, they are naturally going to tire out. Those are the big things when it comes to no huddle offenses.
Q: Speaking of tiring out, the temperature is going to be very warm in Iowa City on Saturday. How do you see that factoring into this game?
Long: Northern Illinois will come in and run a faster version of the no huddle than Iowa. The advantage they have is they have been doing it for a number of years. As far as the no huddle and the stamina, because there is a certain stamina to it, the advantage will go to NIU. They have nice speed and they are lighter players. It is sheer numbers with weight; the Iowa players have more weight than the NIU players have. They are more used to it. You can be in the best shape possible for football, but it’s not basketball shape. That’s a simple analogy but it does come to bear. Northern Illinois is used to that and Iowa is not going to be as used to that sort of thing. The tempo and no huddle advantage goes to NIU at this point in time.
I know they’ll do this but Iowa has to play to their strength which is size. They have massive size compared to Northern Illinois. With their no huddle, they have to be smart enough to stay with their bread and butter which is running the football right out them. They need those downhill runs in this game to win it; don’t get so fast or too much fast paced tempo or go sideways with your game. You need to get the ball downhill with Weisman and go right at those guys because Iowa has a big size advantage.
Q: How does it feel to be back in Iowa for you and how is your family doing?
Long: I love being back in this state. I knew at some point in time I would be back. I didn’t know when and this is a perfect opportunity for me now. I love being back in the state and I have always felt a loyalty to the people of Iowa because they have been so loyal to me. The timing is perfect for me and my family right now.
Listed below are the categories and Big Ten ranking for Long:
Career Passing Yards: 10,254 (8th...was #1 when he graduated and only QB in Top 10 to have played before 1997)
Career Completions: 8th
Single Season Completion Percentages: 7th best of .671 in 1984 & 8th best of .670 in 1985
Career Completion Percentage: 3rd (.650)
TD Passes in a Season: His 27 in 1985 ranks 8th
TD Passes in a Career: His 74 ranks 3rd
Record for consecutive completions: 22 against Indiana in 1984
One of 8 QB's to have thrown six or more TD's in a game, which former Hawkeye Chuck Hartlieb #1 with seven. Long did it twice.
He won the Davey O'Brien and Maxwell Awards in 1985 and was runner up to Bo Jackson in the 1985 Heisman Trophy balloting, the closest ballot in the award's history until 2009.
Long has made a return to Iowa and is living in Cedar Rapids where he works as a Business Development Executive for Holmes-Murphy Insurance, a company who is headquartered in Des Moines. He is also doing color commentary and studio work for the BTN and will be on the call in Iowa City for this weekend's opener.
We'll be chatting with Long each week this Iowa football season and this item begins our discussions.
Q: You were able to see Iowa’s offense last year and you have taken in a few practices this year. What are the improvements that you have seen and why will things be better this year than last?
Chuck Long: The number one improvement I have seen from the offense is I think they have more of an understanding of where they want to go. What I mean by that is I thought last year they were not on the same page with what Kirk wanted to do and what Greg Davis wanted to do. I think they were feeling each other out and it has taken a year to do that. I do believe this year, in the practices I have seen, they have more of a definitive philosophy on how they want to attack defenses. It took Greg a year to understand a) the Big Ten and b) Iowa and where they are at. I think that will help him.
He was so used to that Texas speed and with the wide receivers getting the ball in their hands and make someone miss...that’s not going to necessarily work in the Big Ten and at Iowa. You don’t have that speed at Iowa. They are on a better page philosophically of where they want to go and how they attack. I felt that in seeing their practices. They will play to the strengths of their running backs. It really gets simple when you have a brand new quarterback. You can’t do everything you’d like with a new quarterback anyway, so this condenses you automatically which will bode well this year. They will be in a lot better way offensively.
Q: They’ve done a lot with the no huddle in the spring and again this fall...what do you think the biggest benefit will be from Iowa’s no huddle or what are the benefits of not huddling?
Long: There are two big benefits of not huddling. The first is you get the chalk in your hand last. You know exactly what a defense is going to do by not huddling. You will see where they will freeze a count and then they will look to the sideline. What they are doing there is the coaches devise a way to freeze the defense to make them stand still, so the offense knows exactly what they are doing. When they look back, they get to the best play possible. In the offensive world, we call that getting the chalk in our hand last. We will come up with the best play in the end, not the defense.
The second benefit is that it tires out a defense. It keeps out the blitzing when you no huddle, you can’t blitz as much especially when you go fast. It also tires them out by the fourth quarter where tackling gets sloppy. You will see it time and time again if you keep the same defensive personnel in the game without much subbing, they are naturally going to tire out. Those are the big things when it comes to no huddle offenses.
Q: Speaking of tiring out, the temperature is going to be very warm in Iowa City on Saturday. How do you see that factoring into this game?
Long: Northern Illinois will come in and run a faster version of the no huddle than Iowa. The advantage they have is they have been doing it for a number of years. As far as the no huddle and the stamina, because there is a certain stamina to it, the advantage will go to NIU. They have nice speed and they are lighter players. It is sheer numbers with weight; the Iowa players have more weight than the NIU players have. They are more used to it. You can be in the best shape possible for football, but it’s not basketball shape. That’s a simple analogy but it does come to bear. Northern Illinois is used to that and Iowa is not going to be as used to that sort of thing. The tempo and no huddle advantage goes to NIU at this point in time.
I know they’ll do this but Iowa has to play to their strength which is size. They have massive size compared to Northern Illinois. With their no huddle, they have to be smart enough to stay with their bread and butter which is running the football right out them. They need those downhill runs in this game to win it; don’t get so fast or too much fast paced tempo or go sideways with your game. You need to get the ball downhill with Weisman and go right at those guys because Iowa has a big size advantage.
Q: How does it feel to be back in Iowa for you and how is your family doing?
Long: I love being back in this state. I knew at some point in time I would be back. I didn’t know when and this is a perfect opportunity for me now. I love being back in the state and I have always felt a loyalty to the people of Iowa because they have been so loyal to me. The timing is perfect for me and my family right now.
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