Something else is going on here

[(notOM)Rebel123]

They might have found the Cheever letters.

"Fire up the Cubans, Lilly"

[Rudy Baylor]

I would like to see Long get a going away breakfast of cat head biscuits and gravy

It's the least we could do and he deserves the best - from that place off Cantrell

[Hawgphish]

"Fire up the Cubans, Lilly"

She did look like a Lilly.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

She did look like a Lilly.

Ha! True...just don't vomit on her vest

[The Hawg Marshal]

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

I heard it was because he made Jerry mad.

[hawg IQ]

Try to keep up ! That was one the reasons he went before bot

[Oklahawg]

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 think there is some merit to this - concern that Long would leave them "high and dry" at an inconvenient time.

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.

I am inclined to think a "petulant child" booster, or three, got their panties twisted and wanted to "punish" Long. Since they had nothing of substance on him, or nothing they were willing to publicize, they did it this way.

Willing to pony up $4M vs letting the man leave on his own = pretty emotional decision-making somewhere.

[GolfHog]

This season was over weeks ago. Long played the whole season wrong, starting with his 'incredible coach' remark at the NWA TD Club. He had a weak hand with 10 years of missteps at almost every turn. Like Bert, for every success there were two failures. Bert was just the last straw. He should have sold out Bert after Auburn if he wanted to save his job. All that class and so called integrity was just ego and it cost him.

[ricepig]

I heard it was because he made Jerry mad.

That show hasn't been on in years...   

[From Tusk Till Dawn]

"Crucified nationally"


I don't care

In fact, good

That wont help recruiting...

[bennyl08]

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.

1. Yes
2. Highly unlikely given the evidence

6. Next september, sure. However, in a few years, if they don't find someone who was as good as Long, then when donations are down, our facilities start lagging behind other programs, our licensing and rights money starts going down, and suddenly a 2 million dollar buyout presents itself as a major obstacle compared to now we could easily pay the 5 million buyout and not lose a wink of sleep over it, then people will remember.

My guess is that Long either did something very bad to warrant being fired, or there are just a bunch of snowflakes who didn't get their rings kissed as much as they wanted and ran off an otherwise talented AD because of ego. Either scenario is bad for us, but fingers crossed we can get somebody at least as good as Long and ideally an upgrade, but odds of that aren't great.

[logic]

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

You are correct.  However, except for the pros, how many football fans can even name one person on the committee, let alone name the chairman except for the few that heard it on the news today?

[Al Boarland]

The chances are high this completely backfires.

[The Hawg Marshal]

That show hasn't been on in years...   

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Hawgphish]

My source who I will only name as "deep throat" says that 1000s of text messages were sent from his University issued phone to "Harvey Dub" in Hollywood, CA.

[Locutus_of_Boar]

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

It happened a week ago.  It became public today.  Long was out of the loop from that point if not before. He had been bleeding BOT support but it reached critical mass recently and the rumors are it was nearly unanaimous.

As Muskogee said they had to dump Long to clear the deck for the hiring on the next coach.  The common sense assumption is that they've already done a deal in principle with Sexton on one of his clients, probably Norvell.

Bielema will have until Saturday Nov 25th to resign quietly.  It will be announced on Sunday Nov. 26th.

Assuming it is Norvell he will be announced the Sunday after the AAC championship game on Dec 2nd.

[ur]

The chances are high this completely backfires.

It can't get any worse. PTB had to do something before JL and BB burned the program to the ground.

[Hawgphish]

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Not at all.  Also, maybe JL was not a master of his own domain.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

Not at all.  Also, maybe JL was not a master of his own domain.

Maybe he cheated in the contest?

[Großer Kriegschwein]

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.

Game of Thrones

[DemiHOG]

Hey, does Jeff Long have a Harley.??

[Hawgphish]

Maybe he cheated in the contest?

OR....he refused to wear the AIDS ribbon?

[Porkchop#1]

"Crucified nationally"


I don't care

In fact, good

Exactly.  It always gives me a good chuckle to hear the chicken littles run amok, shrieking & squealing in terror, over we might get bashed by the national media.

Screw them and the media and the horse they rode in on.  What a bunch of wimps & sissies.

[cjack]

Not at all.  Also, maybe JL was not a master of his own domain.

Gold.  Solid gold.

[onebadrubi]

It happened a week ago.  It became public today.  Long was out of the loop from that point if not before. He had been bleeding BOT support but it reached critical mass recently and the rumors are it was nearly unanaimous.

As Muskogee said they had to dump Long to clear the deck for the hiring on the next coach.  The common sense assumption is that they've already done a deal in principle with Sexton on one of his clients, probably Norvell.

Bielema will have until Saturday Nov 25th to resign quietly.  It will be announced on Sunday Nov. 26th.

Assuming it is Norvell he will be announced the Sunday after the AAC championship game on Dec 2nd.

You could get behind this if jsut wanting to believe common sense.  If ink is drying, this allows Sexton a few weeks to play up the Gus card to get him a better contract.  Gus is most likely wanting more years, a pay bump, some incentive bump, and a bigger buyout right about now, sexton would settle for 3 of the 4, Gus would settle for 2 of the 4.  All the while Arkansas is a smoke screen and plays no real hand in the end of this. 

If we get Norvell, there MUST be a nice budget for assistant coaches, and they better start by searching for a top 7 figure DC.  Look at MSU for example in how they did it.  Go dangle 1.5 in front of Veneables and tell him it gets him close to KSU to try for KSU or something haha.  (Joking on the last sentence, partially)

[3kgthog]

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

Completely untrue.

[DemiHOG]

Got to wear the ribbon!

[hawganatic]

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.

Why would you wait to the end of the football season to fire the AD?  He isn't the football coach. 

If you wait to the end of the football season, why would you not wait to the end of the basketball season?  Then if you are going to wait to the end of the basketball season, why not wait to the end of baseball season?

See the flaw in your logic?

[(notOM)Rebel123]

Got to wear the ribbon!

I guess Jeff wasn't "sponge worthy". Well, may be he was to Bo.

[hotdog hog]

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.

this^^^

[Nipsey Mussle]

I'm not sure why he was fired, but I'm glad he was. He seemed to care more about his personal image than Hog football. Some may prefer that, but give me a football guy as AD any day.

[LAGNAF]

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 played the biggest role. He cut off almost all access and influence to the program. I also don't think he and the new chancellor saw eye to eye.

If they could have done if for cause or just allowed him to migrate to another job it would have saved them 4 million.

I also don't think any one power broker had the stroke to get it done by themselves so he must've stepped on enough toes to cut his own throat. 4 million must have been a lot less than they stood to lose by leaving him in charge.

[hawgon]

I think there is some merit to this - concern that Long would leave them "high and dry" at an inconvenient time.

I am inclined to think a "petulant child" booster, or three, got their panties twisted and wanted to "punish" Long. Since they had nothing of substance on him, or nothing they were willing to publicize, they did it this way.

Willing to pony up $4M vs letting the man leave on his own = pretty emotional decision-making somewhere.

We'll probably never know, but I'll bet you they never pay him that money.  A contract is just a piece of paper unless someone sues to enforce it.  And of course, if Long sues to enforce all the dirty laundry comes out.  They may give him something, but they will never pay him $4.5 million.

[ricepig]

Completely untrue.

So you're saying that all 38 suites do not have commitments on them?

[Oklahawg]

The BOT fiasco was about making Long look foolish, as much as anything. Punish him.

here's what I've got:
1. GSD. Too many important people still want UA playing in WMS.
2. A-State. Too many important people (or maybe just one really important politician) want to leverage any way possible into getting ASU a bowl game every year vs UA.
3. New policies/procedures - badly needed and consistent with the rest of college sports, as best I can tell - rubbed some folks the wrong way. Hey, my grandfather was a charter member of the RF and at his passing handed off a string of season tickets purchases back to 1946. That stuff doesn't matter. They have "rules" about priority seating and parking - that put some self-described important people behind some wealthier people who have given a lot for a long time.
4. I suspect there was a political pushback to the Jimmy Dykes situation. It affected a women's sport and involved that nasty business of the national anthem last year. (Don't ruin the thread with politics on this topic...use the first two if you wish to talk politics!) That was the stinker hire of the bunch.
5. Money, money, money. Long was the first businessman to run the athletic department. That meant a stronger fiscal sense and maybe a touch bit less when it comes to the sports side of things. That instinctively bothered a lot of the folks JFB cultivated into loyal donors. One thing after another, the common denominator to "change" was "money."
6. The expansion is a part of it. A BOT directly challenged Long, and Long didn't flinch. That is ok (good for Long). But, it means you may never have that BOT in your camp again. At some point, you don't get a 8-1 vote because it erodes to 7-2, then 6-3. You want 9-0, year after year. I don't find fault with Long on the expansion. What is problematic is the optics of a weak program on the field while the monstrosity of an "in progress" construction mess sits behind it.
7. Long didn't run off JFB, or push him out the door. But, he gets attached to that image. He did push out McDonnell, and that has hurt things also. Overlooking Dick Booth in favor of Chris Bucknam is not a crime, necessarily, if you are at a neutral school, but when you overlook a UA guy for a non-UA guy whose credentials were not superior...ouch.
8. Long learned from #7, and accepted MA as the hoops coach. That should be a sign to the powers-that-be that Long was willing to accommodate the "Arkansas Loyal" crowd. Maybe he used that as a "token" moment vs an enduring possibility. He did it again with Neighbors, who seems to be as good a hire as an AD could make for women's hoops.

I do not take a lot of the message board rumormongering seriously. Insurance policies, plane usage, etc., is just a smokescreen to cover up the fact that Long's primary missteps were hurting the feelings of some people who don't want to support UA unilaterally. These folks want to be the T. Boone Pickens of UA. That is a scary thought, even if Long and CBB need to be gone.

Ten years is a good tenure for an AD. That he made it past three is amazing. It defies the axiom that you don't want to replace a legend.

Long's letter of thanks sent out earlier this evening sure sounds like Bobbitt and Steinmetz didn't like what happened, or how it happened, and tried to help Long with a smooth landing. Hey, $4M is pretty smooth in my book. I suspect Long lands on his feet quickly if he chooses to, but would not be surprised to see him enjoy retirement in NWA. He seemed to have no aspirations of leaving.

[Hawgphish]

I guess Jeff wasn't "sponge worthy". Well, may be he was to Bo.

HAHA!  Maybe he broke ground rule #2:  Sleeping over is optional.

[Oklahawg]

We'll probably never know, but I'll bet you they never pay him that money.  A contract is just a piece of paper unless someone sues to enforce it.  And of course, if Long sues to enforce all the dirty laundry comes out.  They may give him something, but they will never pay him $4.5 million.

Maybe. UA doesn't want that PR battle right now. Hey, I'd settle for less to shut up and retire! He should be able to do that, in spades, with even a $2M buyout.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

1. Yes
2. Highly unlikely given the evidence

6. Next september, sure. However, in a few years, if they don't find someone who was as good as Long, then when donations are down, our facilities start lagging behind other programs, our licensing and rights money starts going down, and suddenly a 2 million dollar buyout presents itself as a major obstacle compared to now we could easily pay the 5 million buyout and not lose a wink of sleep over it, then people will remember.

My guess is that Long either did something very bad to warrant being fired, or there are just a bunch of snowflakes who didn't get their rings kissed as much as they wanted and ran off an otherwise talented AD because of ego. Either scenario is bad for us, but fingers crossed we can get somebody at least as good as Long and ideally an upgrade, but odds of that aren't great.

I wouldn't be worried about donations. Get someone who relates to the Arkansas fan base more as an AD and a HC who makes football more exciting and wins a few more along the way and you won't have a problem getting donations or selling tickets.

[Rudy Baylor]

Exactly.  It always gives me a good chuckle to hear the chicken littles run amok, shrieking & squealing in terror, over we might get bashed by the national media.

Screw them and the media and the horse they rode in on.  What a bunch of wimps & sissies.

Thanks you

You are tuned in sir

[snoblind]

They have their AD choice.  Hope he says yes.

[Porkchop#1]

The chances are high this completely backfires.

Thanks a lot for sharing that with us, Wendy Whiner.

[ricepig]

We'll probably never know, but I'll bet you they never pay him that money.  A contract is just a piece of paper unless someone sues to enforce it.  And of course, if Long sues to enforce all the dirty laundry comes out.  They may give him something, but they will never pay him $4.5 million.

We'll know to the penny. Every coaches payoff shows up on the RF's 990 report to the IRS. Anyone who receives over $100,000 must be listed.

[The OTR]

The BOT fiasco was about making Long look foolish, as much as anything. Punish him.

here's what I've got:
1. GSD. Too many important people still want UA playing in WMS.
2. A-State. Too many important people (or maybe just one really important politician) want to leverage any way possible into getting ASU a bowl game every year vs UA.
3. New policies/procedures - badly needed and consistent with the rest of college sports, as best I can tell - rubbed some folks the wrong way. Hey, my grandfather was a charter member of the RF and at his passing handed off a string of season tickets purchases back to 1946. That stuff doesn't matter. They have "rules" about priority seating and parking - that put some self-described important people behind some wealthier people who have given a lot for a long time.
4. I suspect there was a political pushback to the Jimmy Dykes situation. It affected a women's sport and involved that nasty business of the national anthem last year. (Don't ruin the thread with politics on this topic...use the first two if you wish to talk politics!) That was the stinker hire of the bunch.
5. Money, money, money. Long was the first businessman to run the athletic department. That meant a stronger fiscal sense and maybe a touch bit less when it comes to the sports side of things. That instinctively bothered a lot of the folks JFB cultivated into loyal donors. One thing after another, the common denominator to "change" was "money."
6. The expansion is a part of it. A BOT directly challenged Long, and Long didn't flinch. That is ok (good for Long). But, it means you may never have that BOT in your camp again. At some point, you don't get a 8-1 vote because it erodes to 7-2, then 6-3. You want 9-0, year after year. I don't find fault with Long on the expansion. What is problematic is the optics of a weak program on the field while the monstrosity of an "in progress" construction mess sits behind it.
7. Long didn't run off JFB, or push him out the door. But, he gets attached to that image. He did push out McDonnell, and that has hurt things also. Overlooking Dick Booth in favor of Chris Bucknam is not a crime, necessarily, if you are at a neutral school, but when you overlook a UA guy for a non-UA guy whose credentials were not superior...ouch.
8. Long learned from #7, and accepted MA as the hoops coach. That should be a sign to the powers-that-be that Long was willing to accommodate the "Arkansas Loyal" crowd. Maybe he used that as a "token" moment vs an enduring possibility. He did it again with Neighbors, who seems to be as good a hire as an AD could make for women's hoops.

I do not take a lot of the message board rumormongering seriously. Insurance policies, plane usage, etc., is just a smokescreen to cover up the fact that Long's primary missteps were hurting the feelings of some people who don't want to support UA unilaterally. These folks want to be the T. Boone Pickens of UA. That is a scary thought, even if Long and CBB need to be gone.

Ten years is a good tenure for an AD. That he made it past three is amazing. It defies the axiom that you don't want to replace a legend.

Long's letter of thanks sent out earlier this evening sure sounds like Bobbitt and Steinmetz didn't like what happened, or how it happened, and tried to help Long with a smooth landing. Hey, $4M is pretty smooth in my book. I suspect Long lands on his feet quickly if he chooses to, but would not be surprised to see him enjoy retirement in NWA. He seemed to have no aspirations of leaving.

What I got out of this was smokescreen. 

Cbb will be remembered for jelly sandwiches.  Long will be remembered for smokescreens.

That's quite a legacy for both.

[Martygit]

Why would you wait to the end of the football season to fire the AD?  He isn't the football coach. 

If you wait to the end of the football season, why would you not wait to the end of the basketball season?  Then if you are going to wait to the end of the basketball season, why not wait to the end of baseball season?

See the flaw in your logic?

No, I don't - the football program is the problem - fire the FB coach - see the flaw in your lack of logic?

[icymcfadden]

I've heard something else is going on.

My source says a reporter told her: "that there is some type of scandal about to come out. There is a sports reporter says he got fired for "a story that is about to come out" like he tried to "cover up" something 😱
"Yeah, apparently there are rumors of him taking money from the Athletic department, which is a public entity, and putting money into the football program to pay for the stadium.

"Also there is some rumor about him helping cover up a rape."

Idk if it's true just what someone told me her client a reporter told her. She said there was a lot she couldn't talk about but it seemed like the firing was more then the bad hires.

We will see

[sickboy]

It can't get any worse. PTB had to do something before JL and BB burned the program to the ground.

Oh, it can get much, much worse.

[Jimbob111]

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.

I'm sorry but it's not JUST the football program. The rest of Arkansas' competitive sports have not suffered because of Jeff Long but after seeing his influence on the football program, have you thought that maybe the other sports succeeded IN SPITE of Jeff Long?  He knows how to make a buck, that's for sure, but I was never sold on him and anyone who would hire Dave Wannstedt is immediately suspect...

So, as I've said before, Football is the face of the UofA. And Jeff Long deserved to be fired for not taking care of business. Now, a lot of other things may be going on but on it's face, he deserved to be fired. Watching multiple sports channels all day, I have not seen anyone who thinks this is a colossal mistake. Maybe it's just me...but at least somebody had the balls to do it. It needed to be done. And it's done. Now, let's hope Peobles will have enough balls to dump Bielema.

[CareBear]

Exactly.  It always gives me a good chuckle to hear the chicken littles run amok, shrieking & squealing in terror, over we might get bashed by the national media.

Screw them and the media and the horse they rode in on.  What a bunch of wimps & sissies.

Bo's minions & ESPN talking head buddies, specifically Dari Nowkah, were all hysterical today. Implying that this makes Arkansas look bad & lamenting the loss of the great Jeff Long & how bad a look it was for our program.
Ridiculous. I feel like we've been very patient with these 2 guys, not me particularly, but fans in general. How many other SEC schools would allow 2 Big-10 guys to take over their football program, tell them that they were previously doing it the wrong way or were somehow wrong in their  approach in the past. Jeff made his own bed by not researching the hire. That's lazy as hell. Dumb as hell too considering how important football is to the University & state as a whole. Jeff was ** to all respected, long time UofA employees. He ostracized former players. Stole at least one donor's parking spot. He got his karma like a mowfukeh. Bert is next. & the media hacks who were lap dogs & selling the sh*t show whilst berating people who dared question things that were becoming obvious are nervous now. I wish them the best, but please leave!

[ricepig]

I've heard something else is going on.

My source says a reporter told her: "that there is some type of scandal about to come out. There is a sports reporter says he got fired for "a story that is about to come out" like he tried to "cover up" something 😱
"Yeah, apparently there are rumors of him taking money from the Athletic department, which is a public entity, and putting money into the football program to pay for the stadium.

"Also there is some rumor about him helping cover up a rape."

Idk if it's true just what someone told me her client a reporter told her. She said there was a lot she couldn't talk about but it seemed like the firing was more then the bad hires.

We will see

Hell, that isn't a rumor, he stated that the Athletic Department was contributing $10m to the NEZ project, you do know that it owned by a public university?

[Batesville Hogfan]

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

Who do you think hires the HC? If you wait to fire the AD until after the season you'll never get a coach in time to salvage this year's recruiting class. This isn't rocket science....