University of Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long speaks to the media Thursday night.
Video still, RazorVision
This is bad.
To have been sitting in the shoes of Athletic Director Jeff Long when he was meeting with Coach Petrino on Thursday night, well, that must’ve sucked.
It was bad enough when all that had happened was Petrino’s motorcycle wreck. Sitting there in a neck brace with his scraped up face, he looked horrible. It looked much worse than the damage that had been done.
Two days later, when the police report came out about the accident, all hell broke loose. Instantly, everything that looked bad became worse.
With Coach Petrino now on paid leave, we don’t even know who will be coaching the team this fall.
Bobby Petrino is in a world of hurt right now and I feel for him. Jessica Dorrell is also presumably in a world of hurt right now and I feel for her, too.
But, with every new report about who else was involved, this story is quickly going from bad, to worse, and beyond. The more I learn about what transpired, not only over the weekend, but over the past week and year, I’m running out of people to feel sorry for.
Scratch that. There is one person I certainly still sympathize for — Jeff Long.
I often try to put myself in the shoes of others to hopefully gain a bit of perspective.
It’s safe to say that this is one situation where I don’t want to do that.
If I were Long, I wouldn’t want to think about how this situation is going to play out. Because this isn’t a situation that just plays itself out. Someone is going to make a decision here.
There are plenty of sports journalists out there who don’t usually give Petrino and Arkansas a fair shake. And as Razorbacks fans, seeing how the team has improved each of the four years under Petrino (even amassing a 21-5 record over the past two years), we’re quick to ignore the things our coach has done in the past:
- Going behind the back of former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville to try and secure the head coaching job there.
- Quitting the Atlanta Falcons job 13 games into the season and heading to Arkansas.
The good news for Petrino is that some successful coaches have overcome bad situations before.
At Louisville, Rick Pitino had an affair with a woman and even paid for her to have an abortion. Pitino is still coaching at Louisville, where he took his team to the Final Four this year.
But the bad news for Petrino is that some successful coaches also haven’t overcome bad situations before.
At Tennessee, former head basketball coach Bruce Pearl was involved in a recruiting scandal and even lied to the NCAA. Pearl was later fired from Tennessee.
We can all agree that Coach Petrino’s situation is different, though, because it’s football and there’s a lot more money involved, right? (That was sarcasm.) In reality, perhaps that may be true. But Jeff Long’s situation is really no different from the Bruce Pearl situation because it involves lying.
Petrino admitted to having a ‘previous inappropriate relationship.’ While not good, this has nothing to do with the situation.
Petrino hired Dorrell to his staff. If it’s she who Petrino had that relationship with, this is Not Good Part A (and Part A carries a ton of potential fallout from those who weren’t hired for the job that could potentially hit the UofA).
Not Good Part B was lying to Long about what transpired over the weekend and then lying to the press two days later.
The good news is that Petrino wants forgiveness and wants to repair all the damage he’s done. Still, Jeff Long has not been put in a good situation.
So, what will it be?
Will Long suspend Petrino, dock him some pay and attach an extremely tight leash? All the while letting the university deal with the potential mess?
Or will Long take a strong stance by firing Petrino and say the University of Arkansas will not put up with this kind of behavior?
I’m just as eager as everyone else to know what’s going on with our football program. But this is one time that I don’t want to feel what Jeff Long is going through and the tough decisions he’ll have to make.
Wear those shoes well, Mr. Long. I’m quite sure they won’t fit me.
I hope we don’t lose him but I think firing him is the right thing to do. Damnit Bobby.
You sound like Hank Hill
I believe Jeff Long has handled the situation with dignity, transparency and class. Petrino put him in a no-win situation. If he fires Petrino, he becomes the Great Satan to half the state. If he keeps Petrino, Arkansas continues to be a circle-your-wagons-good-ol’-boy joke.
I don’t care if Petrino has 20 affairs, that’s between him and the Mrs. I do, however, care very much if he uses his vast influence to get Dorrell a job. Even if she was very qualified for the position, and there’s nothing indicating she wasn’t, it *appears* improper now that their relationship has come to light. His credibility as a boss, not as a coach, is damaged. His personnel decisions from now on will be scrutinized at a much higher level. Not only that, Petrino’s colleagues, the many professors and staff members of the UA, can use this stinker of a situation as precedent.
In the real world, and in most businesses, it’s improper to have a quid-pro-quo relationship with a subordinate. You can’t boink your direct reports.
I understand that Petrino is sorry, and I feel bad for him. Much more than his career, his relationship with his kids and his wife is in peril. However, he didn’t “make a mistake.” He perpetuated a lie and a cover-up consciously, deliberately and repeatedly.
Petrino needs to be fired not only to save the UA from liability from further law suits from:
1. Former staffers who were dismissed for inappropriate relationships
2. Staffers currently working for Petrino
3. Dorrell herself
4. Anyone who interviewed for that recruiting position.
The UA also needs to fire Petrino to retain its credibility as a world-class university first and a football program second. It’s not a morality issues, it’s a lying and abusing your power issue. If they keep Petrino, they will have chosen football over the UA. This may be a very unpopular opinion, but football, or any sport, should not define a University.
I sincerely hope that the UA chooses its reputation, its integrity and its own employees over an 11-2 season.
I’m glad Jeff Long is more patient than you. Why not wait until he and his team of lawyers have figured out the circumstances around her hiring before condemning the man?
Exactly how was blarrrgh condemning anyone?
“I don’t care if Petrino has 20 affairs, that’s between him and the Mrs. I do, however, care very much if he uses his vast influence to get Dorrell a job. Even if she was very qualified for the position, and there’s nothing indicating she wasn’t, it *appears* improper now that their relationship has come to light. His credibility as a boss, not as a coach, is damaged. His personnel decisions from now on will be scrutinized at a much higher level.”
“I understand that Petrino is sorry, and I feel bad for him… He perpetuated a lie and a cover-up consciously, deliberately and repeatedly.”
Those may be ideas that you don’t agree with, but they are hardly condemnations.
How’s that Kool-Aid taste?
You’re right, I’m so sorry. He merely spouted off about how Petrino should be fired without knowing the full details of the situation.
I’ll wait for Long to finish his investigation, and leave y’all to your ignorant Puritanical lynch mob.
Details we do know:
1. He lied to the public, the media and his employers and did so more than once.
2. He had an “inappropiate relationship” with a woman he subsequetly hired to a $55k position directly under him.
Those are enough details for me.
Where’d you get your info on Petrino’s involvement in her hiring? Care to share the details with us?
What are you disputing, Zapp? Petrino hired her. It was in the news before this trainwreck happened.
As Vandelay has already stated, it was in the news prior to this incident. Petrino himself gave a statement about it. I was going to copy it here but given the circumstances that have now come to light I just can’t do it. There is way too many snarky, albeit hysterical, ways that his statement can be interpreted now. If you really honestly doubt the man hired her it would be quite easy for you to find the information yourself. And are you so naive to think that he wouldn’t have had the decision in her hiring, given the duties of the position she holds? That position has to work hand in hand with the coach and travel with him frequently. And yet you seem to believe, mistakenly, that he wasn’t involved in her hiring? He hired her wheher you like it or not.
I know about the statement Petrino made on March 28. I know how the situation appears. So what? Correct me if I’m wrong, but nothing else about his role in this has come out publicly.
I’m impressed at your ability to deduce what I believe about his involvement, but guess what, it doesn’t matter what you or I *think* about it. Long is conducting the review as we speak, and thankfully he operates on a more stringent burden of proof than what is required to post on the interwebs.
Could this investigation reveal anything which would make the situation acceptable? No matter what else transpired, a public employee hired a woman with whom he was having an “inappropriate relationship”. This is completely unethical. Period!
Right. The 3 million dollar football coach isn’t involved in hiring his staff. That is totally believable. Now excuse me please but the Easter Bunny and I have a date for brunch. We are going to pass on the koolaid though.
Again, who cares what’s “believable?” The PTB don’t make decisions based on the whims of sanctimonious Inter-Tube posters.
Apparently, some of the PTB make decisions based on who’s fondling their ding dong.
Again, don’t give a hoot about the affair. If he had chosen literally any other woman or man not under his employ to have a relationship with, I wouldn’t even be posting. Whether or not Dorrell’s hiring was legally improper, it APPEARS improper, and as a head coach and the highest paid state employee, he has to guard against the APPEARANCE of impropriety as well.
Look at it this way: If your father is the district attorney here and you get arrested for DUI but never charged, it appears improper even if the decision was made completely above board. This is why most businesses and corporations have rules against fraternization as well as against spouses/family members being each other’s direct reports.
In any other business, Petrino’s lying and questionable hiring decision would have gotten him fired for exposing the company to ridicule and massive liability.
It’s not about the sexytimes. It’s about the lying lies.
Did Petrino lie? Without question. However, he can lie to his wife, family, the media, fans et al and not much we can do but dislike it. But lying to your boss? Another issue entirely. Does YOUR boss cut you slack when you lie to him and the truth comes out in a very publicly embarrassing way? How does that go over?
Another key point others have made and some keep overlooking: obviously Petrino and Dorrell have some kind of a relationship, and just days before this all blew up in his face, he hires her to a high-paying job as a direct report in a position that will require being alone away from home on the “company” dime.
It sure looks improper to me.
Here’s a question…if this was say the CEO of a Wall Street firm or a bank that had a hand in the collapse of the economy who behaved in this exact manner, perpetrated the exact same lies and had the exact same history, albeit relevant to his industry, what would the public say? My guess is there would be a lot of people demanding the CEO be fired. But yeah, this is football and we’re in the South.
Jeff long’s shoes are really nice he has some great looking loafers
You know, the worst thing about all this isn’t actually Petrino anymore. It’s the blindness of those who put football victories ahead of what’s right. Those are Razorbacks fans… NOT University of Arkansas fans.
I’ve been on the field at Razorback Stadium as a college football competitor, and I have my degree from the UA. Do I want the Hogs to be a dominant football power? Absolutely. Am I willing to accept anything for that to be so, even if it further paints the UA and the state as a backwater? No way.
Anyone who gives a crap about the UA and the national perception of the state of Arkansas cannot support BMFP’s actions, no matter how much it hurts to think of letting him go.
This is way more important than athletic success. How can some people not get that?
I feel this. I am about to graduate from the U of A in a few weeks, and this episode weakens my degree. Should it be this way? Of course not. But in the real world, perception means a lot.
vandelay, congratulations on your imminent degree! I hope you walk in the ceremony… it may seem like a couple of hours of dead time but actually it’s great for you to sit on that floor and wait your turn and contemplate your accomplishment and the life road that is opening up to you. I urge you to have as many family and friends on hand as you possibly can.
The UA has made tremendous strides as a university… our business college is renowned, and many other departments are also worthy and provide as much quality as numerous other more well-regarded schools. Take your knowledge and blaze a path that represents the UA well, and that will do more than any football accomplishment could ever hope for.
Thank you. I sincerely appreciate the advice and sentiment.
I imagine the following Hallmark greeting card is in the mail:
Dear Bobby,
It’s O.K. to lie. It’s no big deal!
They love it like that here in Fayetteville.
You can “borrow” a new bike and not call it a steal.
Grab a blonde chick, lay back and chill.
They love it like that here in Fayetteville.
From Your Downtown Pals,
Marilyn
Don
Matthew
and
Steve
Good article flyer.
Bye, bye Bobby.
At least he wasn’t diddling little boys.
Bobby is sooooo dumb; in addition to his actions, alleged and otherwise. Granted, he had been injured and probably wasn’t thinking straight. However, 1) he didn’t need to refer to a previous inappropriate relationship. He could have said, yeah, she’s my employee, she said she wanted to go for a motocycle ride, yadda, yadda. People would have talked and sniggered, but so what? 2) not sure she needed to be identified in the police report as long as she wasn’t injured and didn’t file a charge or an accident report.
good luck, bobbie – I people from Helena MT where he grew up. Mostly, they way he was raised to be arrogant and obnoxious and to be a good football coach.