Junior Achievement

Pro football will soon make Washington State junior Rien Long a wealthy young man.

Of course, Long would already be filthy rich if he had a nickel for every bonehead play he made as a junior varsity player only five years ago at Anacortes (Wash.) High.

“I’d never played football before,” said Long, a pained grin creasing his face. “It was my junior year, and I was on the junior varsity. I didn’t know anything.”

Anacortes Coach Ken Beyer was even more to the point.

“He wasn’t any good,” Beyer said. Uh, that’s all changed, Coach.

Long was good enough by the end of that first season at Anacortes to play a little on the varsity. He was good enough the next fall to make all-state and earn a scholarship to Washington State.

This season, Long has been good enough to reel in opposing quarterbacks and All-American honors with equal aplomb, and he won the Outland Trophy as the top interior lineman in the country.

“He’s as good as we’ve ever had here [at defensive tackle],” said Bill Doba, the longtime Cougar defensive coordinator and newly appointed head coach.

“That’s some compliment to Rien, because we’ve had a lot of great players here,” said Robb Akey, who has been promoted from defensive line coach to defensive coordinator in the wake of coach Mike Price’s impending departure for Alabama.

Beyer never predicted football greatness for Long when the tall, lanky kid was tripping over his feet on jayvee fields. However, Dick Andrew, Anacortes’ defensive coordinator at the time, knew Long was something special after only a few preseason workouts.

“He told me, ‘Ted, that’s going to be your first Division I football player,’ ” Beyer recalls.

“I said, ‘Really.’

“He said, ‘Yes. Just look at him run.’

“Dick knew; he’d coached 30 years.”

Today, Long’s speed and quickness remain uncommon for a man of his size. Listed at 6 feet 6 and 286 pounds, Long said he’s actually 6-6 3/4 and pushing 290, even though he’s rather lanky for a defensive tackle and can still add strength, weight and bulk in the weight room.

“I feel like I’m skinny,” Long said. “I’ll look at game film and I’ll be thinking, ‘Who’s that skinny guy? Oh, that’s me.’ ”

Long relies on finesse more than muscle to put on a ferocious pass rush. He tied for sixth in the NCAA Division I-A regular season with 13 sacks, many of them produced in critical situations and/or against double-teams.

Long strongly considered turning pro next season, but said he decided to stay once Doba was named to replace Price after the Rose Bowl.

“I really like Coach Doba and Akey and Mike Walker, my position coaches,” Long said.

Long, whose mother had him drop the first letter from his legal first name, Erien (AIR-e-un), because she didn’t like the similarity to Aryan Nations, always wanted to play youth football -- he lived in Culver City before the family moved to Anacortes when he was in grade school -- but he was bigger than league rules allowed.

Now Long is bigger and better than ever, and the social sciences major says he’s also shown improvement in the classroom after a slow start at Washington State.

Long, who has little involvement with his father -- “My stepfather, he’s my dad.” -- wants to set a good example for his infant son, Gavon, who lives with a former girlfriend.

Long found a second father, of sorts, in Beyer, and is grateful for Beyer’s work with him in football, track and field, and the weight room.

Beyer talked Long into turning out for track after his junior year of basketball, and the result was two state medals in the shotput, including a state championship as a senior.

“He’s amazing,” Beyer said. “I don’t think he’s even close to being topped out.... He’s got a huge bone structure, and he’s got 8% body fat. That’s what running backs and wide receivers have.”

Akey said, “He’s very talented, and one of the great things he’s got is his toughness. He’s a tough guy, and he’s a competitor. At the end of last season, he was playing with injuries that would keep a lot of people out of a lot of games.”

Added Doba: “If he gets a little stronger next year, he’ll be even better. And he’s got long arms. He’d make a hell of an offensive lineman with those long arms.”

Don’t look for Doba to be moving Long to offense anytime soon, or for Long to volunteer.

“It’s a good feeling to hit someone,” Long said in his affable, open manner. “As brutal as that sounds, I like to hit people.”

Long displayed his fondness for hitting people during a brawl at a Washington State frat house a couple years back. Teammate Melvin Simmons was seriously injured and now plays at USC after transferring because his assailants were not prosecuted, but Long said he made certain there had been some justice on Simmons’ behalf.

“Some people got hurt in return,” Long deadpanned. “I tried to talk to them, but my verbal skills were just not up to par. Then I started putting words on my knuckles. That seemed to help.”

Long’s verbal skills did help him settle a dispute peacefully last winter. According to Long, eight rather inebriated fellows decided to pick a fight with him and a friend at a restaurant in San Diego.

Recalled Long, “I grabbed two guys and put them up against the wall and said, ‘Do you want to dance?’ It broke up after that.”

Long’s ability to lay down the law figures to come in handy if he pursues his goal of working as an agent for the FBI or the National Security Agency after, hopefully, a long stay in the NFL. Those are challenging careers, but Long seems up to the task.

“I’m never scared about going against anybody,” he said. “I’m never scared about going against the best; I like playing against the best. I play my best when I’m going against the best.”

Long is the ringleader of a Washington State defense that has relied on quickness more than blitzing to rack up a school-record 52 sacks.

Speedy ends Isaac Brown of Upland, Fred Shavies and D.D. Acholonu are strong pass rushers.

Run-stuffer Jeremey Williams helped Washington State rank seventh in the nation in the regular season in rushing defense -- 82.3 yards a game.

Second-team All-American Marcus Trufant is a top NFL prospect. Fellow cornerback Jason David of Covina led Division I-A with 0.78 interceptions a game -- seven in nine games -- even though he missed three games after his jaw was broken when he was sucker-punched by linebacker Ira Davis in a locker-room dispute over a woman.

Fleet free safety Erik Coleman leads the Cougars with 76 tackles. Outside linebacker Will Derting is a promising freshman who intercepted three passes in the season opener. Middle linebacker Mawuli Davis earned a scholarship and a starting job this fall as a senior transfer from New Mexico State.

Despite playing in the pass-happy Pacific 10 Conference, the Cougars finished the regular season in the top 40 nationally in points given up, 21.8, and total yards given up a game, 338.8. The Cougar pass defense ranked 103rd among 117 teams at 256.5.

*

The Long Way

Statistics for Washington State defensive lineman Rien Long:

Games...11

Tackles...30

Assists...17

Tackles for loss...20.5

Sacks...13

Passes knocked down...3