Thursday, September 11, 2003

By Paul Zeise, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Ball State is viewed by many as an easy victory for the No. 11 Pitt Panthers. The Cardinals are 31-point underdogs and are coming off a 35-7 drubbing at the hands of Missouri.

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But Pitt athletic director Jeff Long knows better.

Actually, he knows the Cardinals' first-year coach, Brady Hoke, better and said that if the Cardinals are anything like their coach, the Panthers are in for a struggle.

"He was a tough, hard-nosed player, and I'm sure that his players have taken on his personality," said Long, who grew up with Hoke in Kettering, Ohio, which is near Dayton. "The thing about him is he is a real nice guy off the field, but once he gets on it he is really intense. He has always coached defense and that's his specialty, so I'm sure they'll be intense as well as excellent on defense.

"Right now, he obviously doesn't have his own recruits to work with, but I'm sure he's made an impact on the players he inherited and that team will come here ready to play."

Long and Hoke grew up within a few blocks of each other and played football and baseball together since they were in middle school. Long was a year behind Hoke academically, but the two played three years of varsity ball together at Fairmont East High School.

Hoke was the center and Long was the quarterback in football, and Long pitched while Hoke was his catcher in baseball.

"It is always a special relationship between center and quarterback," Long said. "We loved to play football and we always had some kind of game going no matter what time of year it was. Then we spent some time together at Michigan as well. He was an assistant coach there at the same time I was. So I have gotten to watch his career unfold in some respects, and it doesn't surprise me that he has done so well.

"I expect Ball State to really become a competitive program in the next few years."

Hoke and Long are two of at least four players from their high school team who have gone on to have major-college or NFL success. He believes that's because of the influence of their high school coach, Rusty Clifford, who was only 24 years old when he took over Long's sophomore year.

"[Clifford was] so young, but he was mature beyond his years," Long said. "He was a true player's coach; he knew how to get our respect and he knew when to turn up the heat, but he also could relate to us. I see a lot of his style in the way Brady approaches his job."

Long and Hoke have remained friends and both families live in the houses they grew up in. Long said Hoke's best quality is his ability to get players to believe in themselves and overachieve.

That, plus the fact Hoke is a Ball State alumnus, is why Long believes he is the perfect coach for the Cardinals. Hoke graduated from the school in 1982 and has made stops at Western Michigan, Toledo and Oregon State before landing a job as the defensive ends coach at Michigan in '95.

In 1997, he became the defensive line coach, and in 2002, he was elevated to associate head coach. Ball State hired him in December.

"I really do believe Ball State and Brady are a perfect match," Long said. "He has always been the kind of person who is able to do a whole lot with maybe not as much to work with. He will certainly be able to get the most out of every one of his players. He has their respect already and a vision to lead them."

One story Hoke told earlier this week about Long was that he delivered the Longs' paper every morning because Long was too lazy to get a paper route.

Long has a corrected version of that story.

"Wait, here's the thing, I was the one who took the paper route over when he gave it up," Long said of his days peddling the Dayton Journal-Herald. "That thing had to be picked up by 4 a.m and we had it delivered by like 5:30. So you tell Brady it turns out I wasn't that lazy after all."

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