James Arthur Long (December 30, 1926 â April 18, 2014) was an American football and track and field coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Huron CollegeâÂÂlater known as Huron UniversityâÂÂin Huron, South Dakota from 1954 to 1959.
A native of Lemmon, South Dakota, Long graduated from Lemmon High School in 1944. After serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, he attended Stanford University for a year before returning to South Dakota. At South Dakota State CollegeâÂÂnow known as South Dakota State University, Long played football as a halfback from 1948 to 1950 on teams coached by Ralph Ginn, including the undefeated 1950 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team. He began his coaching career in 1951 as an assistant football coach at Britton High School in Britton, South Dakota. The next year, he was the head football coach at Ipswich High School in Ipswich, South Dakota. Long went to Huron in 1953 as an assistant under Ralph Lundeen before succeeding him as head football coach in 1954. Long was also appointed head track coach at Huron in 1954, and was named the school's athletic director in 1957. He resigned from his position at Huron in January 1960 to become a sales representative with a clay products business based in Black Hills, South Dakota. His Huron football teams had a record of 43âÂÂ9âÂÂ2 on the field in his six seasons as head coach.
At Huron, Long mentored Garney Henley, who went on to star in the Canadian Football League (CFL), and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Long died on April 18, 2014, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.