Marty Long recently wrapped up his 12th season at the helm of Northwestern's defensive line after coming to the Wildcats prior to the 2008 campaign.
Long has coached six of NU's Top-10 all-time career sacks leaders, including the program's best, Joe Gaziano, who finished his career in 2019 with 30 career sacks. Gaziano earned First Team All-Big Ten honors after matching his career-high of nine sacks during his final season. Northwestern's defensive unit finished in the Top-25 nationally in 2019 for total defense and Top-10 among all FBS programs in first down defense.
In 2018, Long helped lead the Wildcats stout defensive line rank as the 26th best run defense in the nation and top 3 in fumbles recovered. Junior defensive lineman Joe Gaziano forced three fumbles and finished 8th in the Big Ten in total sacks on his way to All Big-Ten honors. Long has helped Gaziano develop in his first three season with the ‘Cats and with one season of eligibility left, Gaziano is already tied for third all-time in program history with 21 sacks.
Sophomore Samdup Miller recorded 14 tackles against Nebraska, the most tackles by a Wildcat defensive lineman since 2002. Senior Jordan Thompson made 30 consecutive starts at defensive tackle over the past three seasons.
In 2017, Long helped lead a defense that ranked ninth in the country in rushing yards allowed, giving up just under 108 rushing yards per game on the season, and also finished 31st in the country in team sacks and 22nd in team tackles for loss.
Leading the Wildcats’ defensive line in 2017 was senior defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster along with first-year Samdup Miller and sophomore Joe Gaziano at defensive end.
Joe Gaziano, capped off his sophomore season as one of the most feared pass rushers in the nation. His nine sacks in 2017 were the most in the Big Ten and among the Top 25 of all players in the country. Gaziano also finished the year with 12.5 tackles for loss as well as four forced fumbles, tied for third most in the Big Ten, helping him earn an All-Big Ten third team selection. After just two seasons of work, Gaziano now stands alone for ninth in program history with 13.5 career sacks.
Playing in the interior, Lancaster has caused nightmares for every offensive line he has face, which caused teams to double team him on nearly every snap of the season. Meanwhile, in his first season of action, Miller led all Big Ten newcomers with 5.5 sacks along with 8.5 tackles for loss. Both Lancaster and Miller were rewarded with All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selections.
Long helped mentor one of the top pass rushers in program history in Ifeadi Odenigbo, who culminated his career with a First-Team All-Big Ten selection in 2016. Odenigbo led the Big Ten with 10 sacks during his senior campaign and finished his career ranked second in program history with 23.5 career sacks. He set a single-game record with four sacks at Iowa and recorded two more sacks in a win over Michigan State to become the first player in program history with multiple sacks in back-to-back games.
In his first year at NU, Long's defensive line was Northwestern's most-improved and impressive unit. Led by first-team All-Big Ten selection Corey Wootton at defensive end, the Wildcats ranked 18th in the nation and second in the conference in sacks with 2.62 per game. As an individual, Wootton led the team both with 10.0 sacks (21st in the nation) and 16.0 tackles-for-loss (35th in the nation). NU's five regular starters all had a minimum of 3.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles-for-loss.
NU's line helped hold four different opponents to under 100 yards rushing, including limiting Ohio to an NU-school-record four net yards on the ground. Senior John Gill joined Wootton as an All-Big Ten honoree, while redshirt first-year Vince Browne was aRivals.com and Sporting News Freshman All-America award winner.
In 2009, NU's defensive line recorded 30.5 tackles for loss including 18 quarterback sacks to help the Wildcats rank 34th in the nation in sacks. Wootton recovered from a devastating knee injury in the 2008 Alamo Bowl to finish his year strong, becoming a fourth-round NFL Draft pick of the Chicago Bears. Browne followed up on a strong first-year campaign with eight tackles-for-loss and five sacks in 2009.
Long's unit held exactly half of Northwestern's regular-season opponents in 2010 to under 105 yards rushing as a team while combining for a whopping 41.5 regular-season tackles-for-loss -- up from 30.5 all of 2009. Much of that production came from Browne, whose 15.5 tackles for loss ranked him third in the conference and ninth in NU single-season history. Included in that total are 7.0 sacks, good for the second-best per-game average in the conference. Browne's performance earned an All-Big Ten second-team accolade from the media. Also picking up an All-Big Ten nod was senior interior lineman Corbin Bryant -- who has earned a spot with the NFL's Buffalo Bills -- whose 8.5 tackles for loss ranked third on the team.
In 2011, Long oversaw a defensive line group that regularly went eight deep, using a number of personnel combinations over the course of the year. Northwestern racked up 53.0 tackles for loss in 2011, up from 41.5 in the 2010 regular season and 29.5 two years ago. Senior Jack DiNardo was the leader among Wildcat down linemen with 6.5 TFL's and 3.0 sacks and was second in total tackles with 32.
The unit evolved into a force for the Wildcats during the 10-win 2012 campaign, ranking third in the Big Ten with 127.6 rushing yards allowed per game -- one yard shy of the school record Long's unit recorded in 2008. The defensive end tandem of Tyler Scott and Quentin Williams combined for 21.0 TFL's, 13.5 sacks and five forced fumbles, while Williams provided the exclamation point on the year with his INT return for touchdown on the third play from scrimmage at the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl. Senior DT Brian Arnfelt contributed 6.0 TFLs to NU's cause in his best season as a 'Cat, and sophomore Sean McEvilly grew under Long's tutelage into a starting role next to Arnfelt.
Scott's playing career under Long came full circle as a senior in 2013 when he registered 10.0 TFLs, 6.0 sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles en route to being named Northwestern's team MVP after the season. Long also groomed underclassmen Dean Lowry, Deonte Gibson and Ifeadi Odenigbo into impact players at defensive end, with the redshirt first-year Odenigbo notching 6.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks on only nine total tackles for the year.
The defensive line was one of the strongest components of the NU defense in 2014, with Dean Lowry as the biggest standout of the unit, notching a team-best 4.0 sacks and a second-best mark of 8.0 TFLs. He was named to the honorable mention category of the All-Big Ten following the season.
Long engineered another superb defensive line in 2015 that formed the formidable teeth of the Northwestern defense. Dean Lowry led the way with 52 tackles, 13.5 for loss, and 3 sacks that earned him an All-Big Ten second team selection and ultimately a fourth-round selection in the draft by the Green Bay Packers. Deonte Gibson also had a strong season with a team-high nine sacks that led to an honorable All-Big Ten Mention and a free agent signing with the Detroit Lions.
Since graduating from The Citadel in 1986, where he played running back, Long has been coaching in the college ranks for all but two years. He was a defensive graduate assistant at Western Kentucky (1986) and The Citadel (1987) before assuming a full-time position with his alma mater in 1988. He continued coaching the Bulldogs until 1994 when he made the jump to professional football, serving as a defensive assistant with the CFL's Baltimore Stallions for two seasons.
Long then moved back into college coaching and spent 12 straight years on the West Coast, beginning with an assistant position (defensive line coach) with Arizona under head coaches Dick Tomey and John Mackovic. During his tenure in Tucson, the Wildcats fielded some of the nation's top defensive teams, ranking 12th nationally in rushing defense in 1997 and '98, and ranking eighth in rushing defense and 21st in total defense in 2000.
In 2004, Long began a three-year stint with Chris Ault's Nevada Wolfpack, coaching the defensive line. He then served on Bill Doba's staff at Washington State this past season.
Throughout his coaching career, Long has been a part of several championship teams. At The Citadel, he helped the Bulldogs to a Southern Conference championship (11-2) in 1992. With the Baltimore Stallions, they won the 1995 Grey Cup (18-3) with the greatest record in the history of the league. At Arizona, the Wildcats went 12-1 in 1998 (best season in school history) and won the Holiday Bowl. At Nevada, the Wolfpack won the WAC title in 2005 (9-3) and played in the Hawaii Bowl.
In 1992, he earned a Coach of the Year Medallion from the Eastman Kodak Company.
Long is a native of Rock Hill, S.C., where he attended Northwestern High. He graduated from The Citadel in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in math and computer science. He and his wife, Donna, have a son, Jerrell, and two daughters, Anna and Kayla.