He served as the head football coach at Howard College—now Samford University—in Birmingham, Alabama during the 1909, 1911, 1916 and 1917 seasons and at New York University (NYU) in 1919.

Longwell was also the head basketball coach at Howard during the 1916–17 season, tallying a mark of 3–5.

B. L. Noojin coached the next three seasons, succeeded by Eugene Caton in 1915.

[4] Longwell was a graduate of the dental department at the University of Pennsylvania, class of 1909.

This biographical article relating to a college football coach first appointed in the 1900s is a stub.