By Mark Smith
Enchantment Sports Editor
Could Rocky Long be returning yet again to his University of New Mexico alma mater — once again as head coach?
Multiple sources close to Long told Enchantment Sports that the former UNM star quarterback and winningest coach in UNM history is “very interested” in the vacant head coaching position at the school.
One source said, “He would love to get back to New Mexico.”
Long, 73, was an defensive coordinator under UNM head coach Danny Gonzales for three years before leaving at the start of this season to take over as defensive coordinator at Syracuse.
Syracuse fired head coach Dino Babers on Sunday after eight years with the Orange that included just two bowl appearances. The school hired Georgia assistant Fran Brown as head coach today.
Reached for comment by Enchantment Sports, Long said he was not ready to comment.
On Saturday, when asked about Long, UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez said they would be in contact, but would not say if Long was a candidate,
Gonzales, who played and coached under Long at UNM and again coached under him at San Diego State, was fired on Saturday following his fourth season. He went 11-32 overall and 5-26 in the Mountain West Conference.
Attendance has dwindled mightily under the past three coaches since Long’s controversial departure as UNM head coach in 2008. All three of Long’s successors were fired, which included Mike Locksley and Bob Davie before Gonzales.
The Lobos have gone a combined 49-129 in the 16 years since Long’s departure and 25-93 in the league.
Long, known for his modified 3-3-5 defense, was head coach of the Lobos for 11 seasons from 1998-2008. He went 65-69 — the most wins and most losses by any coach in UNM history.
Long was 39-27 in the Mountain West and coached in front of some of the biggest crowds in UNM history, some topping 40,000. He led the Lobos to a bowl game in five of his last seven seasons.
He was 1-7 in his only year coaching in the Western Athletic Conference, his first year at New Mexico.
Long left UNM, basically after being fired by former athletic director Paul Krebs — Long was paid a $750,000 buyout — but whether he was fired or left on his own was never made official. The Lobos were 4-8 in Long’s final season, having lost their final four games.
Long was then scooped up as defensive coordinator at San Diego State for two seasons, then became that school’s head coach in 2011, where he went 146-107 in nine years with the Aztecs and 51-20 in the MWC.
He led SDSU to a bowl game in all nine seasons before joining his friend Gonzales as an assistant at UNM before the 2020 season.
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