Jimmy Long

Biography

Jimmy Long joined the Rockets as the program's defensive line coach in December of 2025. The 2026 season will mark Long’s third season on Head Coach Mike Jacobs’ staff following two seasons at Mercer in 2024 and 2025. Mercer ranked among the nation’s top 25 teams in total defense for three of the last five years, while also boasting one of the best rushing defenses in the FCS. During the 2025 season, the Bears ranked third in sacks (3.5), fifth in tackles for loss (8.0) and 11th in rushing defense (110.2 yards/game). Prior to his time at Mercer, Long oversaw the defensive line at Lenoir-Rhyne and held opponents to just 104.8 yards/game on the ground across the 2018 and 2019 seasons, while also totaling more than seven tackles for loss an outing. In 2019, Lenoir-Rhyne had the nation’s 18th-best total defense while also ranking eighth in rushing yards allowed per game (81.9) and fourth in sacks (3.6/game). Long began his coaching career with three separate graduate assistant coaching assignments, including his first as a special teams assistant at The Citadel for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He also spent one season at the University of the South (2016) and was a defensive line assistant at NC State in 2017. A native of Haymarket, Va., Long served as a team captain for Lenior-Rhyne as a senior in 2013 and helped guide the Bears to a berth into the national championship game. He also won three-straight South Atlantic Conference Championships (2011-13) and picked up all-conference