Did he refuse to fire CBB believing he deserved one more year, the BOT didn’t agree, so they are going to pay him $1.1 Million per year for five years to go away and let them hire a new coach? They could have told him to do what they said or resign. Why did they throw all of that money at him instead?
Was he OK with letting CBB go but was adamant that Malzahn would be a divisive choice for Arkansas’ Football Coach? The big money Malzahnistas (J.B. Hunt, Pastor Ronny Floyd, Tysons, etc. in Springdale) always hated him anyway so they got Long ousted so they could make a secret deal with Malzahn?
Long was just not good at buttering up the big money donors, made a lot of them mad by focusing on improving the business model at the athletic department, not on the glad handing and butt kissing (see the Longhorns ongoing disaster for an example) that big money donors demand. Eventually, enough of them got irritated so it did not take much more to tip the balance against him?
Behind the scenes, Long was arrogant and believed he knew best and ignored the powers above him too much?
Based just on his public decisions, there was not enough to justify firing him without cause. Firing Petrino, hiring Bielema, even CBB’s contract extension and big buyout at the time it was done, were all logical and appropriate decisions. The fact that some of that did not work out well is not his fault. I look forward to those in the know explaining what all actually went on.
Thanks Clay. Can you also follow up later with the parts that you can’t talk about now because of ongoing negotiations, maneuvering, etc.? I am sure there is a lot ongoing that has not worked itself out yet so it would be great if your story was updated several more times as this plot thickens.
I think it ultimately came down to this: Long lost the confidence of those above him over a period of 10 years and the decision was made to part ways. You can look to a number of personnel decisions, financial decisions and other decisions that caused others to come into disagreement with the way he ran his department.
Petrino, Smith, Bielema, Dykes, stadium expansion, War Memorial - I think it all played a role over time.
Any truth to the rumors concerning mismanagement of the RWIII situation (financially), and/or that certain Athletic Department funds were transferred from one account to another without appropriate approval?
Just heard, call it rumor, one board member had it out for Long. So he researched Long’s business practices and presented it to the board, and needless to say they were not impressed. Last weeks meeting supposedly resulted in a one sided vote of no confidence.
The AD will have influence, but will not have the final say over that situation. I was told that from someone high up in the discussions about playing there, and that was before Long was fired.
We pretty much knew that. The BOT was gonna have to sign off on it if they were leaving WMS. Now if they were staying in WMS, the AD could do that himself.
A thought just occurred to me. What if the ultimatum from the trustees was not about firing Bielema but about committing to playing in Little Rock?
Doesn’t help to have a $1.5M “rent a win” almost beat you at RRS underneath the “work in progress” expansion. Really bad optics although this shouldn’t be just about football.
I look for the replacement to be handed the task of negotiating an annual game with AState in WMS to appease the “rent a win” and GSD issues. That will be the annual LR game and won’t cost UA a dime beyond stadium rental. UA is at a vulnerable spot politically on both issues and that is being leveraged here.
Nevermind that UA takes nary a dime from the state which would seem to resolve the “must play AState because paying out-of-state teams means you aren’t considering local vendors” type of argument.
Whoever is pulling this off behind the scenes sports a pretty large manhood, and is willing to show it off. This is a gutsy move to re-orient the balance of power throughout UA system all in an effort to influence UA athletics. If I am Steinmetz I dust off a resume and get out before I am forced out for something no more valid than what caused Long’s departure.
The GSD was always going to be a BOT decision. It was in 2000 & will be next time. I’ve always been of two minds on it. I know on the one hand it costs us a lot of money to play in WMS. On the other hand, there’s a whole lot of value (perhaps unquantifiable, but nonetheless real) in playing in an arena that’s much more accessible to fans who live over 200 miles from campus. But WMS is old & the cost to modernize it or make it profitable for the UA to play there.
I hope we don’t have a BOT member who thinks we should play ASU. I really hope we don’t hire an AD who thinks it’s a good idea. If we play in WMS it’s to solidify statewide support. We sure as hell shouldn’t undermine statewide support by creating an “equal” rival within the state. Barnhill, Broyles & Long all agreed on that, yet some people think none of them understood why we shouldn’t have an in-state rival.
I don’t have a clue why Long was fired but as Matt stated these things usually are the result of cumulative events that chip away on a job performance over time. One thing I do suspect, when Long publicly announced that “winning wasn’t necessarily high on the list” (paraphrasing) it probably made a hard impression on individuals that have great influence on Long keeping his job. Even if that’s your true belief it’s not a statement that will go over at many Power Five schools much less one trying to compete in the SEC West.
If the enemy ship is “taking on water” it is the perfect time to leverage against them. If you want AState to play UA and you know that is ridiculous under normal circumstances you move when Long is being crucified to see if you can make an annual game happen.