Jeff Long was right
I wasn’t stunned or shocked, but I was pleasantly surprised that Jeff Long did the right thing.
It wasn’t an indictment on him. I simply didn’t know how the Arkansas’ Athletic Director Jeff Long would react. He had not been in a critical situation like this.
Bobby Petrino had won a lot of games the last two years (21-5) and helped raise a lot of money.
I thought maybe he would get a three-month suspension without pay, which would result in about a $900,000 fine.
He might have other sanctions, but I thought he would survive.
I was wrong. I’m glad I was wrong.
Jeff Long was right. He terminated the married-with-four-children-and-a-grandchild Petrino for lying about irregularities in hiring his girlfriend.
There were 159 who applied for the job. There were three finalists, a man and two women. Jessica Dorrell, 25, got the job. She was Petrino’s pick.
That was irreparable damage that could have had long-term effects on the UA.
Long knew that better than anyone.
When Ohio State started to find things wrong in its football program there were attempts to cover it up. Eventually, the coach, Jim Tressell was fired for his role.
There was an attempt to cover up at Penn State and from the President of the school to Joe Paterno people were terminated.
This time when wrong doing was revealed, decency, morals and values scored a resounding victory.
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I wholeheartedly agree, Wally. I love that the Razorbacks have been winning, but character and honesty MUST be core values.
After all, when all the dust settles, it’s a lot of young men that go through the program – win or not winning, a head coach must be a leader of young men.
I was surprised, too, but pleasantly surprised. I’ll be watching to see who is pegged to take his place.
Thanks for reading and writing Brian. If a coach lies to his boss and state, he lied to is players too.
This team will decide their legacy
The proper headline, and first sentence for each paragraph of this blog post, should read:
Wally Was Wrong.
Wally Was Wrong.
Wally Was Wrong.
Followed by at least five to 10 paragraphs explaining why you, Wally, backed Brash Bobby and his Five-Figure, 34-24-36 Cash Cupcake until the second AFTER Jeff Long rightly canned his backside.
Please provide the relevant financial records and e-mails outlining the Perino’s Pundit Defense Coordination Plan as factual support for your blatant choke job on this story.
Billy Ray Joe Bob,
You have a definite problem. I don’t agree with everything that Wally says, but you don’t agree with ANYTHING he says. That makes you just an antagonist with psychotic tendencies, now, doesn’t it? If all you were put on this earth for was to antagonize Wally, then find a hobby or something, okay?
I felt the same way that Wally did. There are a whole bunch of folks who thought that Bobby would just get a penalty and still be coaching at Arkansas next year. Jeff Long did a great job in doing a thorough investigation and came up with the facts. If you’re saying that you knew all this ahead of the press conference, I’d say that you probably know where the government keeps the UFOs as well. You need your own reality series — in other words GET REAL! Quit badgering Wally.
Couldn’t agree more Wally!
I’m glad long did the right thing by firing Petrino also. It is bad enough that he had an affair but to hire his mistress was just plain arrogant. My question is who do you think Arkansas will look at to be the next head coach? I know the job is much more appealing than it was when Nutt left but I still don’t see a homerun coach coming to Arkansas. Davis, Tuberville, and Holtz are not homerun coaches. What would you think about June Jones coming to Arkansas. He has a wide open offense and if we could keep most of the assistant coaches we have now it could be a pretty good team.
I am not a native Arkansan …I’m very impressed that ethical conduct and behavior trumps winning and money at Arkansas …I am now a far larger fan than I was before
I agree! Now I wonder what will be done about Ms Dorrell? Is she still working there?
From what funds did the $20,000 come from….the UofA or Petrino’s personal accounts?
Petrino and Jessica got caught by the boyfriend at the cabin. A fight broke out and Petrino got the worse of it. Petrino left on his bike. Jessica’s boyfriend grabbed her and they followed Petrino and clipped the back of his bike. Petrion goes down. The boyfriend stops the car tells Jessica to get out. He leaves. Think about it no helmet for either of them ? Why because she was never on the bike. He would ride around with her on the back without one of them at least wearing a helmet to hide the face. Also she wasn’t hurt think about it.
skill,
I’m quite shocked that Jeff Long actually followed the terms the university set forth in Bobby Petrino’s contract and rightfully and legally canned his backside for violating the conditions specified in that deal. We’re talking SEC football here. Dixie lives and dies for SEC offseason weightlifting workouts and scouting the 8-year-olds that figure to star in a decade on Saturday afternoons and evenings. Winning isn’t everything in the SEC football way of life. Winning is life – and death – in the SEC football community.
So tie me to an anthill and smear my face with jam! Jeff Long actually put his university’s reputation, the requirements of the written contract, and common sense ahead of winning football games. Figure on more than a few fans of the Hogs, Tide, Bayou Bengals, Gators, Bulldogs, and the rest of the SEC community calling Long a communist-fascist-socialist-Marxist-anti-American in the coming days. In fact, I guarantee it.
I was just shocked the Good Ole’ Wally here tried so hard to ignore the stipulations in Petrino’s contract, the university’s reputation, and any and all sort of general character by defending Brash Bobby and his Cash Cupcake. And I’m still stunned that there are so many like you other there rushing to Wally’s aid and backing him all the way.
Brash Bobby and his Cash Cupcake embarrassed the University of Arkansas, its football program, the alumni, and fans. Brash Bobby openly violated the terms set forth in his contract – and then repeatedly lied to Long and university officials. Furthermore, Brash Bobby tried to use a municipal police officer, who gets paid through our tax dollars, to cover up this whole accident and the ensuing affair – and Ole’ Wally never batted an eyelash about the attempt to corrupt a municipal employee. Maybe you consider that acceptable. I sure as heck don’t.
Why are you covering for Wally? Wally picked Brash Bobby’s side. Wally went to the wall for Brash Bobby. Then the truth came out, Long rightly axed Brash Bobby, and Wally not only looks like God’s Greatest Fool – he reads like some sort of crisis management spin doctor spewing slanted material to his readers in an attempt to shield, if not downright protect, Brash Bobby from what he had coming to him and what every reader here deserved.
The Truth.
So you go on defending Wally and blasting my backside. I can take it. You’ll run with the pack. Have a nice time. Meanwhile, I’ll go on kicking Wally in the backside for forgetting the First, Last, and Only Commitment of any journalist to his readers and to any story.
The Truth.
Petrino stated he was alone. What if his girlfriend had been hurt ,and bleeding to death in that accident? Would 911 had been called?
Advice for those of you who don’t like what Wally Hall writes ….. don’t read his OPINION column. Methbilly, OPINION columns rarely report the facts.
Roscoe,
Being awfully inconvenient if an opinion was actually based on the facts now, wouldn’t it?
I mean, were an opinion centered on the facts, it might actually be worth its weight in spit and not just the first thing that comes off the fingers of someone with a buck to make, a friend’s backside to cover, and a fool to believe it.
Give my best to Boss Hogg and Bubba Watson.
I am a die hard Auburn Tiger, but I have to say that your AD is a stand up guy and the Razorback nation should be proud of the way he has handled this situation.
Patrino was a good football coach, but there is no way he could continue as the head coach and leader, displaying this kind of utter stupidity. An affair is one thing, hiring your mistress with University funds is another.
Giving your mistress a $20,000.00 pay bonus with University funds is insane! Using the University Cell Phone to send salacious messages, the definition of folly!
Petrino got what he deserved, end of story. However, the Arkansas Razorbacks nation and the University did not deserve the gift that their head coach handed them by thinking with the wrong part of his anatomy.
Good luck to the team next year. Due to the honor your AD has shown I wish you well until, that is, you meet us in gridiron combat.
War Eagle, and woo pig sooie!
I agree with you Wally. When the press conference started, I was hoping for his retention. When it ended, I KNEW he had to be fired. Petrino is a great coach, with uncontrollable urges. He brought this on himself.