SAN DIEGO (AP) Rocky Long is retiring as San Diego State’s football coach after taking the Aztecs to nine straight bowl games.
He will be replaced by Brady Hoke, a former head coach at Ball State, SDSU and Michigan, the school said Wednesday. Hoke will be elevated from defensive line coach.
The Aztecs were 10-3 last season, capped by a 48-11 victory over Central Michigan in the New Mexico Bowl.
Hoke hired Long as his defensive coordinator at SDSU in 2009. Long became head coach after Hoke took the Michigan job before the 2011 season. Hoke was fired after four seasons at Michigan and returned to the SDSU staff last fall.
Long was 81-38 and took the Aztecs to a bowl game in all nine seasons. That extended the school-record streak to 10 after Hoke took them to the Poinsettia Bowl in 2010.
SDSU won 10 or more games in four of the last five seasons, and also won three Mountain West Conference championships under Long.
Long, who turns 70 on Jan. 27, was 65-69 in 11 seasons as head coach at New Mexico.
Hoke was 31-20 at Michigan and 13-12 at SDSU.
There were reports Monday that Long was looking for a job as a defensive coordinator at a Power Five school, including Syracuse. He also reportedly was under pressure to fire offensive coordinator Jeff Horton.
SDSU issued a statement saying Long was simply visiting other schools to talk about his 3-3-5 defensive schemes and to solicit ideas he could implement.
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