By TERRI COOK
BAYTOWN– Danny Long, athletic director and head football coach in Jacksonville ISD, has been approved by the Goose Creek CISD Board of Trustees as the new head football coach and campus athletic coordinator for Ross S. Sterling High School.
Longs career record at Jacksonville is 94-46, with seven district championships. During the other four of his 11 years there, his teams were the district runners-up.
In 2002, Longs team was the district champion and a bi-district finalist. In previous years, Jacksonville teams went as far as the area finals five times and the quarterfinals three times.
Following his acceptance of the Jacksonville position in 1991, Long led the Indians to the area finals, earning their first playoff victory in 19 years.
From 1986 to 1990, he served as assistant coach in Marshall ISD, where he was responsible for the varsity offensive line. The Marshall football team went to the state quarterfinals in 1988 and the semifinals in 1989 before winning the 5-A state championship in 1990.
Long began his coaching career in 1976 at South Gate High School in South Gate, Calif., where he was varsity assistant coach, before moving to Rio Hondo College in Whittier, Calif., from 1980 to 1981. He spent the 1982-83 school year as a varsity assistant coach in Humble ISD before becoming self-employed as a sales and marketing consultant from 1984 to 1985.
Longs professional honors include selection as Co-Coach of the Year for District 14-4A in 2002, Coach of the Year for District 17-4A from 1996 to 1998, and Coach of the Year for District 16-4A in 1992 and 1993. In 1992, the Tyler Morning Telegraph named him East Texas Coach of the Year, and the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) chose him as All-Star Coach in 1990.
In addition, Long served as regional director for THSCA from 1999 to 2001.
Long earned his bachelors degree in physical education from California State University-Long Beach and completed his masters in education and mid-management certification at Stephen F. Austin State University. He and his wife, Sarah, have one son, Joshua, who is 17 years old.
We are very excited to have Coach Long and his family joining us as part of the Goose Creek CISD team, said Dr. Barbara Sultis, GCCISD superintendent. He is recognized in numerous circles as one of the most accomplished coaches in Texas schoolboy football.
His record of achievement with student athletes is impressive, and he has a total commitment for the academic success of all students involved in athletics, she continued.
Long is expected to assume his new role sometime this spring.
