Firing the AD right before a coaching search and having a committee handle it is asking for/guaranteeing a fiasco.
I’m sure they think they have Malzahn lined up. He is clearly the first/only choice for a core, cultish group.
If he is hired we will end up right back in the drama. It follows him everywhere for a reason.
I’ve supported the UA all my life, and I agree that Bielema has to be fired, but the handling of this reeks. Long didn’t deserve to be fired based upon what we know.
And, handling it this way makes an already difficult situation much worse.
It’s already been a disaster for Arkansas, despite the admiration for Long some of you have. It’s time to start winning again, and the people in charge recognize that and have acted on it. Winning is the rising tide that lifts all boats.
There are plenty of Long types (business guys, foremost) out there to hire. It’ll be interesting to see what direction is taken. Tuberville would be interesting, but he is not really a business guy per se. Or at least I don’t know him to be that. Maybe he is. I do like Tommy. SEC athletics is big business, though, so I anticipate the new AD to have run a big-time athletics department elsewhere. But maybe they go with someone like Tommy. Who knows?
I don’t believe that this is how it will happen. I would be shocked if they don’t have a new AD in place in plenty of time to make his/her own hire. Quite frankly, that will be one of the big selling points to a new AD, you get immediately hire your guy.
The fact is that we don’t know the facts and all we can do is speculate. I have no issue with whether Long is there or if it’s someone else but surely the BOT has a plan that is in the best interests (or they believe it is) of the school. Let’s see what that plan is and go from there.
Ironically the hiring of Bielema was less negligent than the hire that most still like, that being Petrino, due to the acknowledged baggage that Petrino brought and then spilled all over the campus. If Long is being fired for letting Petrino go, a case in which he essentially had no choice after Petrino hired his own mistress, and giving the job to a coach that had won Big-10 championships, then it doesn’t make much sense to fire Long. Whoever is hired isn’t going to have a crystal ball.
I agree with PIG. This looks terrible on the national stage, largely because of the abrupt nature of the firing. It’ll send shockwaves throughout college athletics, and I’m sure any good coach will be more difficult to recruit as a result. What do we think Coach Anderson or Coach Van Horn think of this? It’s more than a football decision. When all other programs range anywhere from “competent” to “elite” why execute the AD because one is struggling? Yes, it’s the biggest one. I get that. But it’s not the only one.
My fear is that this is driven by a bunch of NWA powerbrokers hellbent on getting Gus to NWA. It feels like 2006 all over again, without the SECW title to boot.
I don t believe the new AD will be allowed to get “HIS GUY”, it’s going to be who the backroom movers and shakers want. We are talking about Arkansas remember?
Ha! Ha! The thought just came to me (and truly I’m just joking with this post), but what if we’ve had it wrong all this time. That JL wanted to fire CBB, and the money folks want 3 more years of CBB? Let the worrying begin… ! (Ha!)
People are taking this one of two ways: this either a stupid move or a great one. Those who think it’s good news are using emotion. Those who think it’s a stupid move are using logic. On one hand, he’s increased revenue, facilities, and brought a couple of our programs to a national level. On the other, he has made a couple of bad hires that have hurt Arkansas’ name. And that’s the point that I think a lot of the logical people are missing. He hurt Arkansas’s name when he hired Petrino and embarrassed us with Smith. Arkansas’s name, not just the UofA. People can correct me if I’m wrong, but I never felt like Long was here to stay. I always felt like this was another pit-stop for him. And yes, he’s a great AD. Superb. Better than we could ask for. But both Arkansas and Jeff Long deserve better. I hope he goes somewhere he truly wants to be. And I hope we can find someone with a passion for Arkansas, just like I do. If we want this to be a dynasty, we have to find someone who knows Arkansas deserves it, not someone who just says it.
