Chuck Long was an option QB in high school, believe it or not.
Bill Snyder (KSU's current coach) was Iowa's offensive coordinator, and deserves credit for Iowa's offensive prowess, and the development of Iowa's passing game in the early to mid-1980s. Hayden Fry was a QB, and deserves credit as well. Long was a diamond in the rough. He was not widely recruited. He averaged 5-6 passes per game in high school. Maybe it was his height. Iowa recruits many high school QBs to put them in other positions. Long is the only college player to play in 5 bowl games.
10,461 passing yards and 74 touchdowns on 782 completions.
Best completion percentage of any college quarterback all-time who attempted more than 1,000 career passes. First Big Ten player and second player in college football history to throw over 10,000 yards in a career.
I sat in the end zone at Camp Randall and watched him fire a pass from about the 15-yard line with a man wrapped around his ankles and I gasped as he threw into double coverage and a defender in-front who I thought surely would intercept deep in Iowa territory, and he completed it right in the bread basket for a first down. I saw him thread needles in the Peach Bowl against Tenessee. He is the most convincing college dropback passer I have seen.