| | | Ask Chuck Long about his memories of Heisman night 1985, and you won't hear about shaking hands with Archie Griffin or rubbing shoulders with Paul Hornung. You won't hear about the plush carpeting in the Portrait Room or the raucous parties after the cameras were turned off.
|  | | In 1985, Chuck Long finished second in the closest Heisman voting in history. |
Instead, you'll hear about an elevator ride, one in which Long, heading to the formal announcement that December night with his fiancée, suddenly realized he didn't have a speech prepared.
"It's something I'll never forget," Long said. "Getting on that elevator, pushing the number to go down to the 13th floor and having it hit me that I had no idea what I was going to say if I won. I turned to my fiancée and said, 'What if I win this thing? I'm not at all ready.' "
Lucky for Long -- or perhaps unlucky, depending on how you look at it -- Bo Jackson won the award that night in the closest Heisman vote ever. Just forty-five points separated Long from the Auburn running back.
Fifteen years later, Long, now the quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma, is again in the middle of a great Heisman debate, this one involving Josh Heupel, his star pupil. Heupel, who wasn't even mentioned as a candidate when the season began, has catapulted his way into a neck-and-neck race with Florida State's Chris Weinke, much as Long did with Jackson in 1985.
So it wouldn't have been a surprise this past week if Long pulled Heupel aside and said something like, "Josh, no matter what you think is going to happen or what you think isn't going to happen, tuck away a little speech no matter what -- just to be safe."
But no such talk occurred, partly because Long has been on the road recruiting this week, but mostly because the bronze statue is a topic that's off limits. During a meeting the two had prior to this season, Long softly suggested to Heupel the goal of winning the Heisman. Heupel nodded, but hasn't mentioned it since.
"We haven't talked about this weekend at all," Heupel said. "He wants to make sure I'm protected a bit, and things don't get out of control. Really, the only thing we talk about is football."
That's because Long wants to keep his quarterback focused. He understands how fast things can spin out of control in a Heisman rush.
"My job this year, part of it, was to keep him on an emotional even keel throughout the year," Long said. "Quarterbacks get into trouble if they get too high or too low. Josh is such a humble guy that everything has been 'team' with him from day one anyway. I was the same way."
Clearly, Long has been successful. Ask Heupel to brag about himself, to tell you how many awards he's going to win, and he'll tell you how great his offensive line has blocked for him.
|  | | Josh Heupel has tried to block out all the Heisman hype. |
Try to give Heupel a newspaper cover story about his backwoods path to stardom and the miraculous turnaround he's helped orchestrate at Oklahoma, and he'll turn around and walk away. He's hardly rude, stopping frequently during a recent dinner to sign autographs and take pictures, but he keeps the adulation under control.
"I told him I saved all the newspapers," Long said. "Newspapers don't go away."
Of course, not reading the newspapers and not realizing how close the 1985 race had become was what kept Long from preparing a speech. He figured the award was Jackson's to lose until he checked into the Downtown Athletic Club Hotel and heard the buzz about his own chances.
It was a drastic turn of events for someone who, like Heupel, could count his scholarship offers on one-half of one hand. The meteoric rise to success is one of things that have brought these two closer together. They are both cerebral quarterbacks who rely more on football intelligence than arm strength or foot speed.
Just ask Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, who lost twice to Oklahoma this year. Snyder, an assistant on the '85 Iowa team that featured the quick-thinking Long, says the similarities between the two are eerie.
"Josh reminds me of Chuck, in that they are both extremely tough guys. They are great decision-makers," Snyder said. "Josh has tremendous accuracy, great presence on the field, quality leadership and a great understanding of their offense. You can't ask for a whole lot more than that."
Long will watch Saturday's Heisman announcement at the OU football offices, and there is no doubt as to who he thinks should win. Though Weinke and Purdue's Drew Brees might have better numbers, Long believes Heupel's intangibles are more important. That formula almost worked in '85, when Long didn't even lead the Big Ten in passing, but almost won the award.
"First and foremost, we're the only undefeated team in the country. Josh hasn't lost," Long said. "And he's performed in our biggest games of the season, making plays when he had to make plays.
"People get so wrapped up in the numbers, but I truly believe the Heisman voter is a smart voter and they know stats aren't everything. It's how we're winning these games and how he is doing it all. And he's such a quality kid. He's involved with a lot of charities, organizes his own food drive. He's the total package."
Just like Long. Here's hoping the protégé remembers his speech.
Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com.
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Oklahoma's Josh Heupel lays it in nicely for Andre Woolfolk.