Something else is going on here

[Martygit]

I get it that there are a bunch of you who wanted both JL and BB gone and now, you've gotten 1/2 of that wish.

But, it's the wrong half.  Besides the football program, everything else seems to be in great shape.  So, why fire the AD who has everything in the athletic program cruising along except for the football program - fire the football coach - yeah, I know that there are those who think that JL was fired because he wouldn't fire BB and, if BB is fired before the end of the week, I'll backtrack and agree with you.  But, if BB continues to be the football coach through the end of the season, that reason won't fly. Why fire JL now if you're willing to let BB stay here through the end of the season?  Wait until the end of the season and, then, if JL won't fire BB, fire him then.  Unless BB gets fired by the end of this week, that reason doesn't make sense.

Do you really believe that Long would sacrifice himself for the sake of BB when he knows that the BT/Chancellor can fire him and get rid of the FB coach anyway? Doesn't make any sense that JL would "fall on his sword" when he knows, as any rational person would know, that he can't avoid the ultimate result anyway.

So, what happened today?  The AD got fired but to what end? It has to be that he either did something or refused to do something that no one knows about and something other than firing or not firing BB.  Maybe it will come out down the road and maybe it won't.  It just doesn't make sense that it happened today unless there's some immediate reason to change course.  The people on the BT are astute business people - the fact that this happened today tells me that there's some reason that they needed to get rid of JL today in order to protect the university from something or in order to take advantage of some option that has presented itself that JL wasn't on board with.  Otherwise, it makes no sense for it to happen before the season is over.

We will get crucified nationally because of JL's stature in the national scheme of things.  Something had to have gone on that made the BT willing to suffer that criticism other than whether or not he would fire BB.  Hopefully, we will find out what it is/was, but I doubt it.

[moses_007]

They are being very tight lipped on why Jeff Long was fired today.

[Troll-ingmotor]

I get it that there are a bunch of you who wanted both JL and BB gone and now, you've gotten 1/2 of that wish.

But, it's the wrong half.  Besides the football program, everything else seems to be in great shape.  So, why fire the AD who has everything in the athletic program cruising along except for the football program - fire the football coach - yeah, I know that there are those who think that JL was fired because he wouldn't fire BB and, if BB is fired before the end of the week, I'll backtrack and agree with you.  But, if BB continues to be the football coach through the end of the season, that reason won't fly. Why fire JL now if you're willing to let BB stay here through the end of the season?  Wait until the end of the season and, then, if JL won't fire BB, fire him then.  Unless BB gets fired by the end of this week, that reason doesn't make sense.

Do you really believe that Long would sacrifice himself for the sake of BB when he knows that the BT/Chancellor can fire him and get rid of the FB coach anyway? Doesn't make any sense that JL would "fall on his sword" when he knows, as any rational person would know, that he can't avoid the ultimate result anyway.

So, what happened today?  The AD got fired but to what end? It has to be that he either did something or refused to do something that no one knows about and something other than firing or not firing BB.  Maybe it will come out down the road and maybe it won't.  It just doesn't make sense that it happened today unless there's some immediate reason to change course.  The people on the BT are astute business people - the fact that this happened today tells me that there's some reason that they needed to get rid of JL today in order to protect the university from something or in order to take advantage of some option that has presented itself that JL wasn't on board with.  Otherwise, it makes no sense for it to happen before the season is over.

We will get crucified nationally because of JL's stature in the national scheme of things.  Something had to have gone on that made the BT willing to suffer that criticism other than whether or not he would fire BB.  Hopefully, we will find out what it is/was, but I doubt it.

You're avatar pick man... he wasn't Long enough.

[NuttinItUp]

Either:

1) Jeff refused to fire BB and was let go. (call this the most straightforward option)
2) A certain someone (cough, Gus, cough) really did call and demand a firing before he would come. (call this the "conspiracy theory" option)
3) Jeff clashed with power-brokers that you shouldn't clash with. (call this the Game of Thrones option)
4) Something else unmentioned.

[Hawg Life]

Either:

1) Jeff refused to fire BB and was let go. (call this the most straightforward option)
2) A certain someone (cough, Gus, cough) really did call and demand a firing before he would come. (call this the "conspiracy theory" option)
3) Jeff clashed with power-brokers that you shouldn't clash with. (call this the Game of Thrones option)
4) Something else unmentioned.

Gus ain't coming.

[HogPharmer]

Either:

1) Jeff refused to fire BB and was let go. (call this the most straightforward option)
2) A certain someone (cough, Gus, cough) really did call and demand a firing before he would come. (call this the "conspiracy theory" option)
3) Jeff clashed with power-brokers that you shouldn't clash with. (call this the Game of Thrones option)
4) Something else unmentioned.

4

[ur]

Either:

1) Jeff refused to fire BB and was let go. (call this the most straightforward option)
2) A certain someone (cough, Gus, cough) really did call and demand a firing before he would come. (call this the "conspiracy theory" option)
3) Jeff clashed with power-brokers that you shouldn't clash with. (call this the Game of Thrones option)
4) Something else unmentioned.

Not sure about 1 but I will take 2,3,4 for 4 million Alex.

[NuttinItUp]

Gus ain't coming.

Well, I did call that a conspiracy theory, which shows how much credence I give it.

[WichitaStateRazorback]

Or he was fired so that we could get a new AD in place that would then fire BB and hire a new coach... Most coaches won't want to go somewhere if they don't know who their boss is going to be.

[jgphillips3]

There have been far more than enough suggestions of financial issues.  I think therein is where you would find the reason he is gone today.  Support for BB, piss poor attitude, removal of respected people from the program while tripling administration, flirtation with other jobs and such contributed too I would guess.

[hawg1221]

He stepped on some powerful toes.

[hoghearted]

something not mentioned: his relationships with power brokers, how many toes has he stepped on during his tenure? how was he at managing the money for the stadium upgrades? how well were the luxury boxes selling, in the face of declining attendance?

[TebowHater]

Either:

1) Jeff refused to fire BB and was let go. (call this the most straightforward option)
2) A certain someone (cough, Gus, cough) really did call and demand a firing before he would come. (call this the "conspiracy theory" option)
3) Jeff clashed with power-brokers that you shouldn't clash with. (call this the Game of Thrones option)
4) Something else unmentioned.

It's 3. BOT hasn't had his back for a while. He wouldn't suck up to them like they liked - ego too big.

[RockyMtnHog]

It could have been that he was closing the door on games in Little Rock.  That would not have set well with the BOT members in Little Rock and the rest of Central/South Arkansas.

[hawgon]

I'm going with that it was something not mentioned.  And it must have been important to the PTB that Long be fired and that it be seen by the whole world to be such.  They could have eased him out, given him time to find another job, and so on and so forth.  They could have fired him in all but name and continued on with business until he left on his own.  But they felt apparently, that it was important to actually fire him.

[TebowHater]

something not mentioned: his relationships with power brokers, how many toes has he stepped on during his tenure? how was he at managing the money for the stadium upgrades? how well were the luxury boxes selling, in the face of declining attendance?

Luxury boxes are sold out and have been for sometime. It is the first couple of points you note that did him in.

[moses_007]

He stepped on some powerful toes.

Yep. and didn't even say "Excuse me...."

[MuskogeeHogFan]

I get it that there are a bunch of you who wanted both JL and BB gone and now, you've gotten 1/2 of that wish.

But, it's the wrong half.  Besides the football program, everything else seems to be in great shape.  So, why fire the AD who has everything in the athletic program cruising along except for the football program - fire the football coach - yeah, I know that there are those who think that JL was fired because he wouldn't fire BB and, if BB is fired before the end of the week, I'll backtrack and agree with you.  But, if BB continues to be the football coach through the end of the season, that reason won't fly. Why fire JL now if you're willing to let BB stay here through the end of the season?  Wait until the end of the season and, then, if JL won't fire BB, fire him then.  Unless BB gets fired by the end of this week, that reason doesn't make sense.

Do you really believe that Long would sacrifice himself for the sake of BB when he knows that the BT/Chancellor can fire him and get rid of the FB coach anyway? Doesn't make any sense that JL would "fall on his sword" when he knows, as any rational person would know, that he can't avoid the ultimate result anyway.

So, what happened today?  The AD got fired but to what end? It has to be that he either did something or refused to do something that no one knows about and something other than firing or not firing BB.  Maybe it will come out down the road and maybe it won't.  It just doesn't make sense that it happened today unless there's some immediate reason to change course.  The people on the BT are astute business people - the fact that this happened today tells me that there's some reason that they needed to get rid of JL today in order to protect the university from something or in order to take advantage of some option that has presented itself that JL wasn't on board with.  Otherwise, it makes no sense for it to happen before the season is over.

We will get crucified nationally because of JL's stature in the national scheme of things.  Something had to have gone on that made the BT willing to suffer that criticism other than whether or not he would fire BB.  Hopefully, we will find out what it is/was, but I doubt it.

1. There was something else going on that we don't know about yet.
2. Maybe Long balked at doing their bidding with regard to Bielema? Don't know.
3. Getting rid of Long the way that they did leaves him with no way to claim a loss of financial gain, even with a demotion, so it lessens any potential legal challenge.
4. Getting rid of Long the way they did removes him from the process of a new HC going forward.
5. Yes, people outside Arkansas will look at this and say we are bat-shite crazy to get rid of Long but there is probably a great deal that they don't know or understand about our situation.
6. I don't care if we are crucified nationally for this move now, no one will remember next September except as it relates to who we hire as a new HC.

[Martygit]

I'm going with that it was something not mentioned.  And it must have been important to the PTB that Long be fired and that it be seen by the whole world to be such.  They could have eased him out, given him time to find another job, and so on and so forth.  They could have fired him in all but name and continued on with business until he left on his own.  But they felt apparently, that it was important to actually fire him.

Yep - but why did it have to happen today? Why did it have to happen before the end of the FB season?

[hawgon]

Yep - but why did it have to happen today? Why did it have to happen before the end of the FB season?

Maybe they simply fired him before he could take a job somewhere else.  It might have been a you can't quit, you're fired situation.

[HogPharmer]

Yep - but why did it have to happen today? Why did it have to happen before the end of the FB season?

Firing JL now as opposed to the end of the season gives us a jump on getting a new AD, which would allow our coaching search to start sooner. Any potential HC's want to know who their boss is going to be before they take the job.

[hawg IQ]

I get it that there are a bunch of you who wanted both JL and BB gone and now, you've gotten 1/2 of that wish.

But, it's the wrong half.  Besides the football program, everything else seems to be in great shape.  So, why fire the AD who has everything in the athletic program cruising along except for the football program - fire the football coach - yeah, I know that there are those who think that JL was fired because he wouldn't fire BB and, if BB is fired before the end of the week, I'll backtrack and agree with you.  But, if BB continues to be the football coach through the end of the season, that reason won't fly. Why fire JL now if you're willing to let BB stay here through the end of the season?  Wait until the end of the season and, then, if JL won't fire BB, fire him then.  Unless BB gets fired by the end of this week, that reason doesn't make sense.

Do you really believe that Long would sacrifice himself for the sake of BB when he knows that the BT/Chancellor can fire him and get rid of the FB coach anyway? Doesn't make any sense that JL would "fall on his sword" when he knows, as any rational person would know, that he can't avoid the ultimate result anyway.

So, what happened today?  The AD got fired but to what end? It has to be that he either did something or refused to do something that no one knows about and something other than firing or not firing BB.  Maybe it will come out down the road and maybe it won't.  It just doesn't make sense that it happened today unless there's some immediate reason to change course.  The people on the BT are astute business people - the fact that this happened today tells me that there's some reason that they needed to get rid of JL today in order to protect the university from something or in order to take advantage of some option that has presented itself that JL wasn't on board with.  Otherwise, it makes no sense for it to happen before the season is over.

We will get crucified nationally because of JL's stature in the national scheme of things.  Something had to have gone on that made the BT willing to suffer that criticism other than whether or not he would fire BB.  Hopefully, we will find out what it is/was, but I doubt it.

J Long cared nothing about Arkansas, hired the wrong coach 5 years back. Had construction over run of millions of dollars. Didn't pressure BB enough not building FB programs fast enough to compete in sec. Deserved to be fired if for no other reason, the BP fiasco and embarrassing JL Smith debacle. We being shaking our heads ever since.

[Martygit]

Maybe they simply fired him before he could take a job somewhere else.  It might have been a you can't quit, you're fired situation.

I don't believe that the BT/Chancellor would have had that attitude about someone who has done a lot of good for the university - that might be the case if they hated him so much that they wanted to crucify him, but I don't think that's the case here

[jcbville]

It obviously has something to do with Bigfoot and the Men in Black. Obviously.

[snoblind]

My 2 cents. 

Something the BOT was told last week turned out not to be true or additional information was found out.  it went from "find another job" to "you're fired" in a week. 

[Martygit]

Firing JL now as opposed to the end of the season gives us a jump on getting a new AD, which would allow our coaching search to start sooner. Any potential HC's want to know who their boss is going to be before they take the job.

Getting a Jump on a new coach, I understand - getting a jump on a new AD, I don't - there's a world of difference

[ricepig]

  J Long cared nothing about Arkansas, hired the wrong coach 5 years back. Had construction over run of millions of dollars. Didn't pressure BB enough not building FB programs fast enough to compete in sec. Deserved to be fired if for no other reason, the BP fiasco and embarrassing JL Smith debacle. We being shaking our heads ever since.

How are there cost over runs when there was a GMP(Guaranteed Maximum Price) from the General contractor?

[theFlyingHog]

I heard he ticked off the Tyson's over their suite(s)

[Martygit]

  J Long cared nothing about Arkansas, hired the wrong coach 5 years back. Had construction over run of millions of dollars. Didn't pressure BB enough not building FB programs fast enough to compete in sec. Deserved to be fired if for no other reason, the BP fiasco and embarrassing JL Smith debacle. We being shaking our heads ever since.

I don't disagree with anything you say - and, to some extent, I agree with it - my question is, why today?  All of the reasons you give are reasons to fire him at the end of the season - none of them require a firing today or even before the end of the season - they are long term reasons - but.....why today? There's something else going on.

[seasonhog]

I get it that there are a bunch of you who wanted both JL and BB gone and now, you've gotten 1/2 of that wish.

But, it's the wrong half.  Besides the football program, everything else seems to be in great shape.  So, why fire the AD who has everything in the athletic program cruising along except for the football program - fire the football coach - yeah, I know that there are those who think that JL was fired because he wouldn't fire BB and, if BB is fired before the end of the week, I'll backtrack and agree with you.  But, if BB continues to be the football coach through the end of the season, that reason won't fly. Why fire JL now if you're willing to let BB stay here through the end of the season?  Wait until the end of the season and, then, if JL won't fire BB, fire him then.  Unless BB gets fired by the end of this week, that reason doesn't make sense.

Do you really believe that Long would sacrifice himself for the sake of BB when he knows that the BT/Chancellor can fire him and get rid of the FB coach anyway? Doesn't make any sense that JL would "fall on his sword" when he knows, as any rational person would know, that he can't avoid the ultimate result anyway.

So, what happened today?  The AD got fired but to what end? It has to be that he either did something or refused to do something that no one knows about and something other than firing or not firing BB.  Maybe it will come out down the road and maybe it won't.  It just doesn't make sense that it happened today unless there's some immediate reason to change course.  The people on the BT are astute business people - the fact that this happened today tells me that there's some reason that they needed to get rid of JL today in order to protect the university from something or in order to take advantage of some option that has presented itself that JL wasn't on board with.  Otherwise, it makes no sense for it to happen before the season is over.

We will get crucified nationally because of JL's stature in the national scheme of things.  Something had to have gone on that made the BT willing to suffer that criticism other than whether or not he would fire BB.  Hopefully, we will find out what it is/was, but I doubt it.

He was fired!......tell a lot......he may have made one Jones mad. That Jones is not in a good mood these days.

[Boardon Hamsay]

Either:

1) Jeff refused to fire BB and was let go. (call this the most straightforward option)
2) A certain someone (cough, Gus, cough) really did call and demand a firing before he would come. (call this the "conspiracy theory" option)
3) Jeff clashed with power-brokers that you shouldn't clash with. (call this the Game of Thrones option)
4) Something else unmentioned.

I'd say 3 with a side order of 1 and 4. GOBN wants to get the band back together, so to speak. The timing does seem odd. Harder to find a coach with an AD opening so there must be some kind of behind the scenes play in the works.

[ricepig]

I heard he ticked off the Tyson's over their suite(s)

That I believe.

[Bebop]

My 2 cents. 

Something the BOT was told last week turned out not to be true or additional information was found out.  it went from "find another job" to "your fired" in a week.

Sounds more likely. I would imagine that there were a number of things but there was something that he did or didn't do that made him firable.

[greenie]

I'm afraid that this is all going to be hard to recover from.  Long was a solid AD.  He swung and missed on Bielema (something which every AD does), and somehow this creates such an emotional storm that rational thought was thrown out the window.  I think hiring somebody that is already close to the program is likely a good idea, because convincing someone to come to Arkansas with any tangible AD experience is going to be very hard.  If I were a candidate, the first question I would ask is "why was Jeff Long fired?".  They better have a more believable answer than "winning wasn't important to him".

[Martygit]

He was fired!......tell a lot......he may have made one Jones mad. That Jones is not in a good mood these days.

Again......yep, he was fired and, yep maybe he needed to be fired and, yep, maybe he made every power that be mad but.........why today?  Why before then end of the FB season?  What was it that necessitated it happening before not only the end of the FB season but before the firing of the FB coach?

This is not about whether or not he needed to be fired...it is about, why now?  Why today?

[From Tusk Till Dawn]

Either:

1) Jeff refused to fire BB and was let go. (call this the most straightforward option)
2) A certain someone (cough, Gus, cough) really did call and demand a firing before he would come. (call this the "conspiracy theory" option)
3) Jeff clashed with power-brokers that you shouldn't clash with. (call this the Game of Thrones option)
4) Something else unmentioned.

There has to be a woman involved in one of the options in order to be historically accurate, normally I would assume that was #4 but then where do I put FOIA requests?

[Hawgphish]

I heard he colluded with Russia. 

[seasonhog]

I'm afraid that this is all going to be hard to recover from.  Long was a solid AD.   I would ask is "why was Jeff Long fired?".  They better have a more believable answer than "winning wasn't important to him".

Enough for this Hog fan......

[jgcat4]

I have to agree with this. If your going to hire a coach, why would you fire the AD. I wanted Long gone as much as anyone but I'm not sure we did this in the right order. It makes me feel lik B.B. is going to be here next year. That makes me feel like taking a crap in my hands and running them through my hair. Unless we have an AD in waiting. Idk. Smells bad...

[logic]

We will get crucified nationally because of JL's stature in the national scheme of things.  Something had to have gone on that made the BT willing to suffer that criticism other than whether or not he would fire BB.  Hopefully, we will find out what it is/was, but I doubt it.

What nonsense! Few fans even know who the ADs of other colleges are. With little else happening,  the firing Jeff Long is national news today and will soon be forgotten. Tomorrow there will another story and the Jeff Long firing will be old news.

The fact is that Jeff Long deserved to be fired.  He excels at fooling people like you with his self promotion and taking credit for what Frank Broyles did.  However, unlike Broyles, Long's primary interest is promoting what benefits Jeff Long ahead of what benefits the UofA. He lucked out on a couple of coaching hires but overall he is below average. Plus there is the $160 million boondoggle.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

Gus ain't coming.

In the words of Lee Corso, "not so fast my friend."

[Ironhawg]

Again......yep, he was fired and, yep maybe he needed to be fired and, yep, maybe he made every power that be mad but.........why today?  Why before then end of the FB season?  What was it that necessitated it happening before not only the end of the FB season but before the firing of the FB coach?

This is not about whether or not he needed to be fired...it is about, why now?  Why today?

This caught me totally by surprise.  I expected Long to leave, but not this soon and not this suddenly.  What the heck changed between the BoT meeting and today?

[Hawgphish]

They might have found the Cheever letters.

[SquidBilly]

It didn't help that Cole Kelley was arrested for DWI this weekend, with CBB obviously not setting a good example in that regard.  May have been the final straw that hastened the process along.

[Boardon Hamsay]

They might have found the Cheever letters.

Long clearly didn't cherish the cabin.

[Martygit]

What nonsense! Few fans even know who the ADs of other colleges are. With little else happening,  the firing Jeff Long is national news today and will soon be forgotten. Tomorrow there will another story and the Jeff Long firing will be old news.

I would agree except for the fact that JL is so respected from a national standpoint that he was chosen as the chairman of the first and only committee created to choose the football playoffs teams and continues to be on that committee and, today, that committee voted unanimously to ask him to remain on that committee

[Rudy Baylor]

"Crucified nationally"


I don't care

In fact, good

[moses_007]

This caught me totally by surprise.  I expected Long to leave, but not this soon and not this suddenly.  What the heck changed between the BoT meeting and today?

Nothing.  The BOT instructed Steinmetz to fire Jeff Long last Thursday.  I guess the chancellor wanted time to talk to attorneys to be sure everything was in order before he fired him. 

Remember, Steinmetz had Jeff Long fly to the meeting and Jeff sat in an adjacent auditorium for over three hours and was never called to the meeting,,,, but Steinmetz was.

I knew right then it was over for Jeff Long.

[Rudy Baylor]

Who's going to crucify us? ESPN?

Lol

[East Clintwood]

Firing JL now as opposed to the end of the season gives us a jump on getting a new AD, which would allow our coaching search to start sooner. Any potential HC's want to know who their boss is going to be before they take the job.

This sounds so reasonable but does it really have that much of an impact?

Unless they've met the AD of know someone really close that they can ask, there's really not much the can do to check him  out.  Very few AD's are well known enough that there is anything about them floating around on the internet other than their schools website which is nothing more than a fluff piece about them (go read Jeffy's to wee how useless that is).  They can't just call and ask anybody because they're trying to keep it quiet that they're looking at another job.

They'll get a sit down and phone interviews that will give them a first impression (and that may suffice) but there's really not enough time to get to know them.