In the middle of the 2015 season, Dana Holgorsen realized he had a problem. It was a good problem, but as an offensive guy, it was still a problem. His first-team offense couldn’t block a short linebacker they were redshirting at West Virginia who had proven to be unblockable. 

“I was like, ‘God-damn. Can we block the middle linebacker?!? His pad level is this high!’ ” Holgorsen told The Athletic while motioning to about mid-thigh level. “He goes underneath people. He gets skinny and goes around people. I know we’re good at linebacker, but we can not block this guy. Put him on kickoffs. Cover punts.” 

Holgorsen points to David Long as a prime example of why he likes the new NCAA redshirt rule, which allows players action in up to four games and still preserving their redshirt season. Holgorsen opted to preserve Long’s redshirt in 2015 and was not at all surprised when the former three-star recruit emerged as the team’s best defensive player the next season. Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson was so wowed that he came away believing Long could be the best player he’d ever coached. In 2017, despite missing the first four games due to a knee injury, Long still earned a spot on ProFootballFocus’ second-team All-American squad. In 2018, he won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading WVU in tackles (111), TFLs (19) and sacks (eight) and made The Athletic’s All-America second team.

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Long doesn’t have prototype size, but his play-making skills intrigue pro personnel folks, especially because the NFL has shifted to become more of an in-space game.

“He’s a fun player to watch,” says Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Network’s draft analyst. “He’s 100 miles per hour at all times. Has some snap on contact. The more I watched, the more I liked. It’s all about speed (now). If you can’t run, you can’t play. You will get exposed quickly if your linebackers can’t run/cover. Height isn’t as big of a deal.”

Gibson raves about Long’s quickness and grit, calling the 5-10, 230-pounder the toughest dude in the Mountaineers’ program. “If we put 20 of our players in a room, my money is on David Long to be the guy walking out,” Gibson said.

The root of that toughness, his coaches believe, comes from his dad, David Long Sr., a former pro boxer who went 12-5-2 as a heavyweight. He once fought and was knocked out by future world champ Deontay Wilder.

“He’s a straight running badass,” Holgorsen said of his former linebacker. “The dad was on his recruiting visit, and David is just that guy. Nobody messes with him. He’s got the respect of the locker room. He’s the toughest one I’ve ever had at WVU. Ain’t nobody whipping his ass. There’s not one dude on our whole team that would mess with him. He’s a good vocal guy. He’s tough and backs it up with his play.”

David Long says he’s showed his son a few things in the ring, but added he doesn’t want him or any of his other children to box. “He’s always been tough, but in his heart, he’s a football player,” he said.

The younger Long attended many of his dad’s fights but wasn’t there for the match against Wilder in 2011. “That was a weird day at high school when that happened. I heard he got KOed. ‘No, not him.’ I ended up watching the video. Haven’t watched it since high school. I don’t like watching it. I don’t want to see that no more. Deontay Wilder — whoo, that’s a man. We joke with him sometimes about it. 

Long Jr. smiled hearing how his coaches gushed about his toughness and their theories on where it comes from. 

“That’s what I was just raised around,” he says. “Not even intense fighting. Even play fighting. I have two big brothers and had some really rough people around me, and that molded me to who I am now. (My dad) never forced boxing on me. I always liked training, but I was more a basketball and football guy. 

“When I go home in the offseason, that’s the training I still do. On the bell, three-minute rounds. I think it helps more with awareness mentally. In boxing, you’ve got to know when somebody’s moving around trying to hit you. My instincts have been sharp since high school.”

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Last offseason, Long Jr. went into the ring — with headgear — against his old man for the first time. They went for three 90-second rounds. 

“He busted up my lip, but it was fun,” Long Jr. says. “He was really iffy that I knew how to throw my hands for real. It was just jabs, but it’s grown-man strength.”

Long knows there are going to be some skeptics about his height. It’s reminiscent of the recruiting process, where he was overlooked by Michigan and Ohio State after attending their camps and running a 4.6 40 while weighing 215 pounds. 

“That motivated me a lot, honestly,” he said. “It just put some fire in me because I knew that I could play with the people they were offering. I knew I was better than a few of those guys. But I knew if I continued to keep playing the way I knew how to that I’d be alright.”

(Top photo: Joe Robbins / Getty Images)