Big 12: Chuck Long back in football

Chuck Long sat out the 2009 football season. Not by his choice. Long was fired after three unproductive seasons (9-27) as head coach at San Diego State and spent last season reconnecting with his kids and volunteering at Poway High School in suburban San Diego.

Now Long, who spent six seasons as the quarterback coach or offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, is back in Big 12 country, as the offensive coordinator at Kansas, working for new Jayhawk coach Turner Gill.

“I would recommend it to anybody,” Long said of the year off from football. “There’s some anxiety to getting back in, but it does recharge your batteries. I would recommend it to anybody, if they could do it.

“Looking back,  it was a great refresher. Recharges you. You’re back at in a better way.”

Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar (7) and offensive coordinator Chuck Long, right, talk prior to the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) vs. Tulsa (TU) Golden Hurricane college football game at Gaylord Family -- Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., September 10, 2005. By Nate Billings/The Oklahoman.

Long said he “thoroughly enjoyed” volunteering at Poway, where he worked with varsity, junior varsity and freshmen teams. “It was great. I reconnected with the high-school level kids. It was great.”