Amid a report he was interviewing for another job, Rocky Long said Monday afternoon that “as of now, I’m still the head football coach at San Diego State.”

Long was said to be actively seeking a defensive coordinator position with a Power Five school and, in fact, was interviewing Monday at Syracuse, according to a social media report from Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.

Sources: San Diego State head coach Rocky Long has been shopping himself for college defensive coordinator jobs. That includes Syracuse, where he's visiting today. Dino Babers has an open DC job. — Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 6, 2020

Long was not on campus Monday at SDSU where the football offices were closed, although the trophy from the Aztecs’ 48-11 New Mexico Bowl win over Central Michigan was visible behind a desk.


In a phone conversation, Long said: “I have been talking football for a couple days. It’s been kind of fun.”

Asked who he has been talking football with, the coach responded: “I’m not going to say.”

Informed of reports on Twitter, Long said, “I don’t let Twitter speak for me. There’s nothing on Twitter that I said.”

Is Twitter accurate?


“I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t read any Twitter.”

Told that Twitter said he was at Syracuse, Long said, “I haven’t read it, so I’m not commenting.”

What Long would say is: “I haven’t made any obvious changes in my status. The coaching staff comes back from Christmas vacation on Wednesday and we have our first staff meeting and we plan on mapping out where we go from there.”

Long also would not comment on reports he was “shopping” for a defensive coordinator job at a Power Five school.


“I don’t talk about rumors,” he said.

So how does he handle it if someone calls inquiring about him?

“If it’s somebody I know,” Long said, “I answer the phone call and I listen to what they have to say and react accordingly.

“When they call you sometimes they’re just inquiring about how you’re doing and what’s going on. Obviously, you make small talk and say hello to your friends.


“If it’s someone that I don’t know, I don’t answer the phone.”

John David Wicker, SDSU’s director of athletics, released a statement at mid-afternoon:

“We have seen the reports circulating today concerning our head football coach Rocky Long. As he does every season, Rocky visits other programs throughout the country to talk about his unique 3-3-5 defense and to get ideas he may wish to implement into our program.

“After every season, as I do with all our programs, I sit down with Rocky to discuss ways that we can improve our program. We are currently in that process now.


“I am proud of the many successes on and off the field by our football program. We are one of 13 programs to make 10 consecutive bowl seasons and one of just 10 schools to reach double-digit victories in four of the last five seasons.

“As I have stated many times since accepting the position at San Diego State, Rocky Long will be our head coach as long as he wants to be, and Rocky Long is still our head coach.”

Long has guided the Aztecs to nine straight bowl games since becoming head coach in 2011. He is 81-38 as head coach at SDSU, which is second only to Don Coryell (104-19-2) in victories at the school. SDSU finished 10-3 in 2019, reaching double-digit victories for the fourth time in five seasons.

“It’s an exciting place with the possibility of a new stadium and a new campus and all that kind of stuff,” Long said. “That’s really, really exciting.


“I think that’s going to be the catalyst for San Diego State itself and San Diego athletics to really make a move and a jump.”

Long, who turns 70 in three weeks, is the second oldest coach at the FBS level (Ohio’s Frank Solich is 75) and his contract runs for another four seasons. Long’s base salary for 2019 was $878,228, which USA Today ranked 87th among the 130 FBS coaches. It ranked sixth among the Mountain West’s 12 football head coaches.

“I am going to be 70 years old, so, obviously, it’s in the back of your mind how long you’re going to go,” Long said. “But I haven’t made any decisions yet.

“I haven’t thought that deep about it. All I’ve thought about is how much longer I might go and in the process what might be in store with me along the way.”


If speculation about interest in a defensive coordinator’s job at a Power Five school is true, there are openings at places closer than Syracuse. Both USC and Washington State are looking for DCs.

As far as connections, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers was wide receivers coach for the Aztecs in 1994, long before Long arrived at SDSU. Long has said that he is good friends with Washington State head coach Mike Leach.

Long came to SDSU in 2009 when he was hired as defensive coordinator by then-SDSU head coach Brady Hoke. Long was promoted to head coach when Hoke left to become head coach at Michigan. Hoke returned to the program last year when Long hired him as SDSU’s defensive line coach.

There was speculation in some circles that Hoke’s hire provided a ready replacement when Long decided to retire. Such talk will certainly grow louder now.