april 11, 2012
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Student-run newspaper at the University of Arkansas Vol. 106, No. 100TRANSCRIPT
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012VOL. 106, NO.1008 PAGESUATRAV.COM
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Bobby Petrino won’t have to rush back from his April 1 mo-torcycle accident.
Petrino was ! red by athletic director Je" Long Tuesday night, ! ve days a# er it was revealed he withheld information to try to cover up an inappropriate rela-tionship with a 25-year-old fe-male football department em-ployee who was a passenger in
his motorcycle crash.“In short, coach Petrino en-
gaged in a pattern of misleading and manipulative behavior de-signed to deceive me and mem-bers of the athletic sta" both be-fore and a# er the motorcycle ac-cident,” Long said. “He engaged in reckless and unacceptable behavior and put his relation-ship in the national spotlight. No single individual is bigger than the team, the Razorback football program or the University of Ar-kansas.”
Petrino was ! red for with-holding information about foot-ball employee Jessica Dorrell’s involvement in the wreck, his inappropriate relationship with Dorrell and the role he played in her being hired in the football department just four days prior to the accident, Long said.
“Do I regret hiring him? $ at’s a di% cult question,” Long said. “If he hadn’t been engaged in this inappropriate behavior, no, I wouldn’t be disappointed in hiring him. His action resulted
in me having to take this action.”$ e announcement Tuesday
night ended a nine-day period of uncertainty following Petri-no’s accident. Because Petrino was ! red for cause, he will not be paid the $18 million buyout in-cluded in his contract, which ran through 2017.
“$ e simplest response I have is: I’m sorry,” Petrino said in a statement released through his
The End of an Era: Petrino Out
Athletic director Jeff Long said he hasn’t yet considered a replacement for Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino, who he fired Tuesday evening.
Long announced that assistant head coach Taver Johnson would re-main in charge of the football admin-istrative duties through the end of the Razorbacks’ spring practices.
“I have spoken with assistant coach Taver Johnson and have asked him to continue the responsibility for the football’s administrative opera-tion through the completion of spring practice,” Long said.
Long said he will begin searching for Arkansas’ next coach in the com-ing weeks.
“We will maintain as we are through spring practice on April 21,” Long said. “At that time, I will assess where we are in the search process and make a decision on an interim head coach going forward.”
The fourth-year Arkansas athletic director said there is no timetable set for hiring a head coach.
“It is so fresh for me and has hap-pened so quickly, I haven’t had a chance to contemplate that,” Long said. “Certainly we are going to con-duct a search and determine whether we can attract a head coach that can lead this program.
“If not, we would go with an interim and do a search following the season.”
by ZACH TURNERAsst. Sports Editor
Long: No Replacement
in Mind
see REPLACEMENTon page 8
by JIMMY CARTERSports Editor
PHOTO: GARETH PATTERSON, PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: DYLAN CRAIG
Homework Placed on Back Burner to Petrino Firing
BEN FLOWERS PHOTO EDITORKeaton Piper, UA student, watches Athletic Director Jeff Long address the media about former head football coach Bobby Petrino’s termination on Tuesday night from the Union.
see FIREDon page 5
NEWS
The women and men of the University of Arkansas Police Department, in partnership with the community, are committed to protecting the future of Arkansas by promot-ing a safe and secure environment.
The Transit and Parking office handles parking permits and passes and transit for students, including bus routes and GoLoco Ride Sharing. Students with parking violations can contact the office to appeal their citation.
NEED TICKETS? CALL 1-800-982-4647
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NEED EMERGENCY HELP? CALL UAPD 575-2222
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Otherwise known as 575-SAFE, the mission of the Safe Ride program is to provide students with a safe means of transportation from any uncomfortable or inconvenient situation. Safe Ride brings you home safely.
Don’t forget to call early and reserve your student football tickets for the 2012-2013 season. The ticket office is located on Razorback Road next to Baum Stadium.
CAMPUS NUMBERS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012 PAGE 2
The Arkansas Traveler, the student newspaper of the University of Arkansas, is published every day during the fall and spring academic sessions except during exam periods and university holidays.
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Former head football coach Bobby Petrino issued an apologetic statement following his termination Tuesday evening.
“! e simplest response I have is: I’m sorry,” Petrino wrote. “I accept full respon-sibility for what has hap-pened.”
In the statement, which Petrino issued through his agent, the former coach apologized to the UA and his family.
“My sole focus at this point is trying to repair the damage I’ve done to my family,” he wrote. “I am committed to being a better
husband, father and human being as a result of this and will work each and every day to prove that to my fam-ily, friends and others.”
! e release followed a press conference by Athlet-ic Director Je" Long, who twice choked back tears during his announcement of Petrino’s termination.
“No single individual is bigger than the team, the Razorbacks football pro-gram or the University of Arkansas,” Long said. “In this case, Coach Petrino abused his authority when he made a sta" hire that bene# ted himself and jeop-ardized the integrity of the football program.”
Long was referring to Petrino’s unfair hiring of
25-year-old Jessica Dor-rell, one of several details that emerged in the Tues-day night press conference. Dorrell was hired over 158 other applicants just four days before the April 1 mo-torcycle accident that ex-posed her “inappropriate relationship” with the for-mer coach.
“I chose to engage in an improper relationship,” Petrino wrote. “I also made several poor decisions fol-lowing the end of that re-lationship and in the a$ er-math of the accident.”
Petrino told UA o% cials he was alone on the motor-cycle, a lie uncovered by a ! ursday police report that pegged Dorrell at the scene. ! e botched cover-up and
# ve-day investigation that followed proved to be an embarrassing debacle for the university.
“I’ve taken a lot of criti-cism in the past. Some de-served, some not deserved,” Petrino wrote. “! is time, I have no one to blame but myself.”
But elsewhere in his statement, Petrino hinted that he did not agree with all of Long’s account of the scandal.
“Given the decision that has been made, this is not the place to debate Je" ’s view of what happened,” he wrote. “In the end, I put him in the position of having to sort through my mistakes and that is my fault.”
by BRADY TACKETTEnterprise Writer
Petrino Shows Remorse in StatementGARETH PATTERSON STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Long Wait
GARETH PATTERSON STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER“No single individual is bigger than the team, the Razorbacks football program or the University of Arkansas,” said Athletic Director Jeff Long at Tuesday evening’s press conference regarding head coach Bobby Petrino’s termination from the UA.
Chancellor G. David Gearhart responded to the # ring of coach Bobby Petrino with a brief state-ment released Tuesday evening, holding that he could not com-ment further because of his pos-sible role in the coach’s review.
“! is is a sad day for the Uni-versity of Arkansas and Razor-back sports,” Gearhart wrote. “Af-ter a thorough review, Vice Chan-cellor and Director of Athletics Je" Long has made his decision. Mr. Petrino’s contract establishes a process by which he may have his termination decision reviewed.
“Given my role in the review process as Chancellor, I must de-cline further comment on today’s announcement.”
Gearhart refrained from com-menting further because of his fu-ture involvement in any appeals Petrino might make, said John Diamond, associate vice chancel-lor of University Relations.
“If Coach Petrino decides to appeal, he submits by a process that goes through the Chancel-lor, and so he’s not answering any questions,” Diamond said.
ASG president Michael Dodd agreed with the decision, he said.
“I told Je" earlier that I was fully in support of his decision and I am still,” Dodd said. “! e decision was right for the UA. If anyone lied to me in a position of leadership, I know I could never trust them again. ! e trust that Je" has for our head coach is more important than wins. He is such a great leader for our campus.”
Mattie Quinn contributed to the reporting of this story.
by JANNEE SULLIVANStaff Writer
Chancellor Gearhart
Issues Statement
“! e simplest response I have is: I’m sorry. ! ese two words seem very inadequate, but that is my heart. All I have been able to think about is the number of people I’ve let down by making sel# sh decisions. I’ve taken a lot of criticism in the past. Some deserved, some not
deserved. ! is time, I have no one to blame but myself.”- Bobby Petrino, Former Head Football Coach
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The Path to Petrino’s Downfall
Monday, April 9, 5:09 p.m.
Tuesday, April 10, 5:45 p.m.
Tuesday, April 10, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 1, 6:45 p.m.Arkansas State Police responded to the scene of Petrino’s crash, about 20 miles southeast of Fayetteville. Petrino had already left the site.
Monday, April 2, 9:46 a.m.The Petrino family released a statement through the UA con!rming Petrino was “in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery” after a motorcycle accident “that involved no other individuals.”
Tuesday, April 3, 11:20 a.m.Petrino released from the Physician’s Specialty Hospital in Fayetteville.
Tuesday, April 3, 3:45 p.m.Petrino addressed the media before watching football practice from the Reynolds Razorback Stadium press box. Following the press conference, he responded, “Yeah,” that he was alone during the accident when asked by KFSM Channel 5.
Thursday, April 5, 3:12 p.m.Petrino called Long to tell him that he previously withheld information that Jessica Dorrell, a 25-year-old UA football department employee, was a passenger on his motorcycle during the crash.
Thursday, April 5, 3:36 p.m.The Arkansas State Police report about the crash is released and news about Dorrell’s involvement breaks to the public.
Thursday, April 5, 10:05 p.m.Long announced he placed Petrino on inde!nite paid administrative leave while he reviewed the situation surrounding the accident.
Friday, April 6, 4:08 p.m.A 911 call is released revealing Petrino and Dorrell asked a man not to call 911, then left the scene in another car.
Arkansas State Police Capt. Lance King did not violate state police policies or state laws in his involvement with Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino’s April 1 motorcycle accident.
Through Petrino’s statement through his agent, he received a letter notifying him that he had been terminated from his position as head coach of the Razorbacks.
Athletic Director Je" Long annouced at a press conference in Bud Walton that he made the decision to terminate coach Bobby Petrino earlier in the day.
Friday, April 6, 3:12 p.m.Arkansas State Police released a statement saying it will require Capt. Lance King to provide a detailed summary of his involvement after the wreck. King met the vehicle carrying Petrino and Dorrell at a Fayetteville intersection and took Petrino to the Physician’s Specialty Hospital while Dorrell left in her own car.
Thursday, April 5, 8:49 p.m.Long called a 9:45 p.m. press conference to update the Petrino situation.
Thursday, April 5, 9:55 p.m.Petrino released a statement saying he withheld information about Dorrell to protect “a previous inappropriate relationship from becoming public.” He also said he “hoped to remain the head coach of the Razorbacks.”
DownfallDownfallThe Path to Petrino’s The Path to Petrino’s
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FROM THE BOARDFROM THE BOARD
HEBRON CHESTER STAFF CARTOONIST
Traveler Quote of the Day
! e Arkansas Traveler welcomes letters to the editor from all interested readers. Letters should be at most 300 words and should include your name, student classi" cation and major or title with the university and a day-time telephone number for veri" cation. Letters should be sent to [email protected].
EDITORIAL EDITOR
MANAGING EDITOROPINION EDITOR
Saba NaseemMattie QuinnEmily Rhodes
“Is it possible to paint a portrait of an entire generation?” ! is was the question TIME Magazine asked in 1951. ! e cover article tried distinguishing between what the majority of a generation believed and what its biggest faces said in an attempt to " nd the features that might de" ne millions of people born in a speci" c time. ! e author understood that the idea of generations was # uid, with no clear beginnings or endings and with motives and desires hidden beneath the surface.
! e landmark book “Generations” by William Strauss and Neil Howe set up a pattern of four similar generations following each other in a 90-year cycle. ! e last four were the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Supposedly, the Millenials and Generation Y followed them, though because there have been so many technological changes, low-level social con# ict, and
cultural changes present in our lives as adulthood is staved o$ longer and longer, there is a lot of confusion over how the newer generations should de" ned and how they " t in with the rest of the world.
Whatever we’re called (personally, I like the Wired Generation), I wonder which group we will resemble to future historians. Supposedly we should be following the path of the Greatest Generation, but there’s a range of negative qualities attributed to us - we’ve been called entitled, faithless, and narcissistic, especially before the economic downturn. It’s been said that we haven’t produced any artists except tattoo artists, and haven’t yielded great literature but made good use of fonts.
On the other hand, many of us have started to feel the e$ ects of the “Great Recession” as the older members of our generation entered the workforce. A large group of us are still in college and will continue to live with the e$ ects as we graduate. Because of that, there have been countless articles that have praised how we’ve grown to become frugal, how we generally haven’t rebelled against our parents unlike the Boomers, and how seamlessly we’ve integrated ourselves into the new world and faced its new challenges like the Greatest Generation did.
And there are plenty of new challenges to tackle. A recent Esquire article showed that in 1984, those 35 and younger had a net worth of about $11,500,
while those 65 and older had a net worth of $120,500. Today that number has increased to $170,500 for the older Americans and dropped down to $3,600 for the younger. ! at’s a change from the elderly having roughly 10 times as much to 47 times as much as young adults.
Now, I don’t want to make this sound like a “don’t trust anyone over thirty” diatribe, but the facts show that the youth of today are generally having a harder time getting on their feet than many expected they would and are having to make hard choices, putting o$ marriage, home ownership and kids and working for little or no money.
Part of this is because of the economy, which assisted in making 85 percent of college graduates move back in with their parents in 2010 with an average of $25,250 in debt. And entering the job market in a recession has been shown to do long-term damage—for every percent that unemployment rises, new graduates take a six percent pay cut according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Youth starting their jobs in the late 1960s and early 1980s recessions had to deal with no job openings and being told they looked good on paper but had a lack of experience. ! e Silent Generation o% en had to take worse jobs than they would have liked, which a$ ected them for the rest of their lives with slower promotions, raises, and earnings. Sound familiar? And
in 2006, 84 percent of college grads had served an internship, up from 3 percent in the early 1980s. Essentially, many grads are paying for the pleasure of working for a major company that needs free work—something unthinkable in the past—so that they can say they have some experience to actually land a job.
Until the recent Occupy Wall Street movement, which " zzled over the winter but has plans for a spring resurgence, our generation hasn’t really had much of a voice politically, reminiscent of the Silent Generation. No matter your thoughts on the social safety net, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be there for us like it is for the Boomers when we’re older unless drastic measures are taken, as CNN reports that Social Security is projected to stop paying full bene" ts in 2036 and Medicare in 2024.
So as we stare down the calendars and make plans for our futures, I wonder how history will see us. Will we turn out to be a group that stands by, seemingly lost in the crowd as the ages run like the Silent Generation, perpetually having lowered results because of a system that failed us in our youth? Or will we somehow manage to roll with the punches and recreate the American Dream like the Greatest Generation? For our sake, I hope it’s the latter.
Chris Sonntag is a Traveler columnist.
His column appears every other Wednesday.
Painting a Portrait of an Entire Generation“In short, coach Petrino engaged in a
pattern of misleading and manipulative behavior designed to deceive me and
members of the athletic sta$ both before and a% er the motorcycle accident.”
- Je! Long, UA athletic director, in his statement at the Tuesday press conference. byCHRIS SONNTAG
Traveler Columnist
Good To Know
Petrino Terminated After Completed Review by LongHead coach Bobby Petrino was " red Tuesday night a% er
athletic director Je$ Long concluded his review and released shocking information to the public about the nature of the motorcycle crash and the events surrounding the Petrino scandal.
In a press conference Tuesday night, Long stated that Petrino was terminated from the head coaching position for the Razorback football program a% er his review concluded that Petrino had withheld information regarding his motorcycle crash and the “inappropriate relationship” he had with passenger Jessica Dorrell.
Long stated that Petrino “knowingly misled” the university, releasing information that Dorrell was one of 159 applicants who applied for the position. Dorrell was hired under an unfair advantage, given $20,000 by Petrino, and was part of an “inappropriate relationship” that took place for a signi" cant amount of time. Not only did Petrino mislead the athletic department about the nature of his professional and personal relationship with Dorrell, but also le% opportunities open to reveal information about the nature of the motorcycle accident earlier in the month.
Long stated his disappointment in the situation and the actions that Petrino took. ! e press conference was emotional and upsetting not only to Long but to the Razorback family as a whole. Information that was released during the press conference about the nature of Dorrell’s hiring and other violations was shocking to students and Razorback fans, and Long expressed his extreme disappointment with Petrino’s dishonest actions.
Across the nation, the news that Petrino had been let go was a trending topic on social networking site, Twitter, a top headline on websites such as ESPN, Yahoo Sports, CNN, USA Today and the New York Times, and the topic of student conversation for the week leading up to the breaking news.
As Razorback fans and students, it’s important that we support our athletic department through this tough time, no matter how much we agree or disagree with the decision Long made. It is apparent, through the press conference, that many people were a$ ected by the situation on a personal level, and that the decision that was made was not an easy one.
Now that the review has been completed, we can stop speculating on the outcome and know that the next step is to support our student athletes, coaches and athletic department as a whole.
We stand behind Long and his decision to terminate Petrino for his actions and for jeopardizing the football program. ! ough many are not in favor of the decision that Long made, we stand behind his choice to let Petrino go and to look for a new head coach.
At this time, we must come together as a student body and support the student athletes and sta$ who were directly a$ ected by Petrino’s actions. We must also come together as a uni" ed body of students and Razorbacks to support one another during this time that many of us are hurting and upset over the situations that took place over the past week. We are still a Razorback family, and together we stand in support of the decisions that were made and the changes that will come in the future.
EDITOR: SABA NASEEM MANAGING EDITOR: MATTIE QUINN
THE ARKANSAS TRAVELER
OPINIONPAGE 4 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012
It’s not every day that I get to spend an evening in the Traveler o& ce watching one of the most idolized people on our campus get " red on television.
Upon hearing that there would be a press conference late Tuesday a% ernoon, I could only think of one thing: “Here we go.”
All week, I had been in lengthy discussions with friends and family over the speculated future of the Razorback football program, and whether Petrino would be a part of it. In every conversation, there was one person who would insist that he would be given a short suspension and a pay cut, and every time I had to disagree.
With the information that was presented earlier in the week, and a% er the information that was released tonight, it was evident that Petrino could no longer be a part of the University of Arkansas. His actions were too far, and too much for the UA to
counteract with press conferences and insistence that nothing like this would happen again.
When the news came out that Petrino would be terminated from his position as head football coach for the University of Arkansas, I felt that I could account for the majority of UA students in saying that we were shocked, upset and disappointed not only in the fact that Petrino would not be coaching our team in future seasons, but also upon learning about the reasons behind the termination.
What was released last week was only a fraction of the information that accounted for the termination of Petrino from his position. Fans, students and faculty were angry and saddened at the idea of Petrino no longer being a part of our Arkansas athletics, to the point of holding rallies to ask athletic director Je$ Long for a second chance for Petrino.
I can account for the sta$ in the Traveler o& ce, who were shocked and who sat silent as the details of the scandal unfolded. As the highly publicized “inappropriate relationship” that accounted for an unfair advantage in the hiring process to the giving of funds, might I add a lot of funds, to Jessica Dorrell unfolded, it was di& cult to watch as a Razorback fan and a student of this university the dishonesty and manipulation that happened
on our campus, our home. ! e student media sta$
sat wide-eyed as the details unraveled, our hearts sinking just a little more as Long read o$ the lengthy list of violations. ! e atmosphere in the o& ce was cold, quiet and very obviously sorrowful as we heard Long speak.
When Long teared up in the middle of the conference, I knew that we had really hit rock bottom. For those of us who were adamant that Petrino would be given a slap on the wrists for what he did, the reality of what happened was unable to be " xed through a simple apology.
For those of us who stated that his personal relationship had nothing to do with his coaching relationship, I agree. His personal relationship should have been kept private, away from his intense talent as a coach and his successful athletic program that he built over the years.
Yet, as the details became public, it was apparent that these relationships could not be kept private with the nature of the situation. Petrino integrated his personal life with his professional life. He pulled the entire university into his personal situation by engaging in an relationship with an employee that was built around dishonesty and unfair advantage. 158 people were denied the job that Dorrell received because of the advantage that Petrino gave
her. ! ousands of dollars were given to a single individual who received them through personal motives. Petrino made the mistake, and he now has to pay the consequences for his actions. Long made the right decision in terminating Petrino.
As Long said in the press conference Tuesday, “No single individual is bigger than the team.” ! is goes past than the athletic programs that we have at the University of Arkansas. As a student body, we are uni" ed. We are a team. We must now come together and support the many people who were hurt and a$ ected by the actions of Petrino and the situation that unfolded.
It’s not going to be easy, and it will take time to heal the relationships that were broken by this. But it’s not impossible. We will make it through, as athletes, coaches, directors, students, faculty and the university as a whole.
We are a Razorback family, a team. No individual is bigger than the team, and we must use this mentality to break through the barriers that were put up through this unfortunate situation and move beyond the issues, becoming an even closer Razorback family.
Emily Rhodes is a journalism major, and the opinion editor.
Razorback Family: One That Stands Together
by EMILY RHODESOpinion Editor
NEWS
Students Weigh In On Petrino FiringPAGE 5 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012
As students gathered around the Quads for free barbecue Tuesday night, the talk was all about Bobby Petrino.
“I think they made the right choice, I honestly do, be-cause he can’t do that,” Alex Mardian said. “You can’t just lie to the university, the ath-letic director and the nation. You can’t [have a relationship] with someone on the payroll. It’s as simple as that.”
Marion said that Petrino’s termination was inevitable af-ter news broke about con! ict of interest and the inappropri-ate relationship.
“Some people say, well,
you shouldn’t have done it,” Marion said. “Well, you know what, when you get caught this is the stu" that happens.”
Terminating Petrino was a bad move, freshman Ethan Williams said.
“He has came and made
this program what it is, in my opinion. I believe he should be punished, but I don’t be-lieve he should be # red,” he said. “$ at was a little extreme for them to do.”
About 20 students gath-ered around the TV in the Quads to watch the broadcast. Even as details surfaced about Petrino’s lies and payment of $20,000 to Jessica Dorrell, many students, including Wil-liams, stuck by their coach.
“His contract shouldn’t have been terminated,” he said. “Petrino had already es-tablished himself with the players, had formed relation-ships with them. Now it’s go-
ing to take another coach to come in and put in the same amount of work that he has put in for the past two years.
“It comes down to your moral standings and how you think it looks on the universi-ty,” he said.
James Stayton, who was sitting next to Williams, dis-agreed.
“Imagine going into a re-cruit’s house and trying to ex-plain to his mother that you’re
going to take good care of him both morally and ethically,” Stayton said. “She’s probably thinking, ‘No, you’re just go-ing to cheat on that kid like you did your wife.’”
Freshman Raquel Lopez also voiced recruiting
concerns.“People are actually proud
to be a Razorback,” she said. “People want to play for Petri-no. I wouldn’t be surprised if we lose recruits. I don’t think
we can # nd a coach of that caliber to keep the positive movement going.”
Meanwhile, outside the press conference at Bud Wal-ton Arena, the sidewalks were bare. $ e only students present were walking toward Pomfret a% er a game of fris-bee.
“I feel it’s a shame he got # red,” sophomore Houston Garner said.
He got a lot of support from the community, but it was the right thing, even though it wasn’t popular, he said.
“You can’t be a big # g-ure like that and be snooping around,” said freshman Lance Dunham. “He had it coming.”
Trending on Twitter Tuesday night: “Jeff Long,” “Bobby Petrino” and “Dor-rell.” Media outlets were buzzing over the dramatic timeline of events that led to the firing of Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino.
The story hit the web on ESPN at 6:28 p.m. CDT, barely an hour before the official press conference. UA fans took to social me-dia to voice their views on Petrino’s firing.
“UofA just made a huge, huge mistake. Not just for the football pro-gram but the school’s over-all fiscal health as well. #BadDecision#ByeBMFP,” Geoff Hamby, senior polit-ical science major, tweeted before the evening press conference.
Athletic Director Jeff Long was adamant in his announcement.
“No single individual is bigger than the team,” Long said.
ESPN columnists gave the situation plenty of cov-erage.
“Over and over, it was
posed as a major moral di-lemma for Long, when in reality he made the only decision a right-think-ing person could. Allow-ing Petrino to continue as a leader of college stu-dent-athletes —scoff if
you must, but the NCAA mandates the terminology — was nearly impossible,” wrote Tim Keown, ESPN columnist.
Another writer de-scribed Petrino’s firing as inevitable.
“Give Long credit for making a di& cult decision. He made the right one, but it’s only a correction from an egregious mistake he made four years ago —hir-ing Petrino in the # rst place. Long made the Hogs’ bed — he # nally decided to get rid of the ! eas Tuesday,” wrote ESPN’s Mark Schlabach.
$ e press conference also presented new evi-dence that changed fans’ minds.
“Oh dang! He bribed her too? Ok, I’m satisfied. This is disappointing but it had to be done. #Stand-WithJeff,” Hamby wrote after the conference.
Former players also used Twitter during the
minutes leading up to the conference.
“You can say what you wanna say about the man. He made me into a damn good football play-er. #Bobbyp,” wrote for-mer wide receiver Jarius Wright.
In the hours surround-ing the press conference, “Jeff Long” made its way to the number one Twitter trend in the U.S.
Famous Arkansas alumni and natives such as golfer John Daly, former CNN anchor T.J. Holmes and musician Joe Nichols took to Twitter to make their opinions known.
“My first loyalty is to the University of Arkan-
sas. I trust that Jeff Long will do what’s best for the program. Everyone in the Razorback Nation is dev-astated! This is heart-breaking as Coach Petri-no is a very good friend of mine! From here, I think we will need a great coach like him to continue our winning ways! I myself, would hold out for a great NFL coach—GRUDEN! #GoHogs,” Daly wrote.
Nichols tweeted his dream list of coaches.
“John Gruden, Butch Davis, or Chris Peterson you are needed at Arkan-sas immediately!!!” Nich-ols wrote.
Holmes gave his sup-port to the UA.
“@UAtrav I’m sick about it. We’ve been trying to build the football pro-gram and the U of A repu-tation for yrs. Petrino gave UA no choice,” he wrote.
“Sad, but proud that my University didn’t put victories above all else,” Holmes wrote.
The search for a new head coach began the mo-ment the press conference ended, Long said.
agent less than an hour af-ter Long’s press conference. “$ ese two words seem very in-adequate, but that is my heart. All I have been able to think about is the number of people I’ve let down by making self-ish decisions. I’ve taken a lot of criticism in the past. Some de-served, some not deserved. $ is time, I have no one to blame but myself.”
Petrino would have entered his # % h season with the Hogs this fall. He went 34-17 the # rst four years, including a 21-5 mark and trips the Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl the last two seasons.
“We worked together to build the football program,” Long said. “Coach Petrino had a huge part in that. So this is very di& cult.”
When news of Dorrell’s in-volvement and the inappropri-ate relationship broke, the story and Petrino attracted negative attention from national news media and fans. Starting Friday, ESPN stationed a # lm crew and reporter in Fayetteville to up-date the story.
“Casting the negative light or negative publicity onto our program, onto our university, onto our athletic program, that was one of the factors, probably more of a key factor,” Long said.
At least one UA donor was in attendance Tuesday when Long made the announcement. Board of Trustees member John Tyson said he agreed with the decision.
“It’s a facts-based decision,” Tyson said.
Long revealed Tuesday night that Petrino gave Dorrell a cash gi% of “some $20,000” and the inappropriate relation-ship hadn’t been short-term.
“It was a signi# cant period of time,” Long said.
Petrino indicated in his
statement that he might dis-agree with some of Long’s as-sessment.
“I’m sure you heard Je" Long’s reasons for termination,” Petrino said. “$ ere was a lot of information shared. Given the decision that has been made, this is not the place to debate Je" ’s view of what happened.
“In the end, I put him in the position of having to sort through my mistakes and that is my fault.”
Dorrell’s salary as student-athlete development coordina-tor is $55,735, same as Dann Kabala, who had the position prior to Dorrell and le% for a job at the University of Pitts-burgh. Prior to working on the football sta" , Dorrell served as Razorback Foundation Assis-tant Director.
She was one of just three candidates out of 159 applicants interviewed for the football de-partment job, Long said.
“Coach Petrino’s relation-ship with Ms. Dorrell gave her an unfair and undisclosed ad-vantage for a position on coach Petrino’s football sta" ,” Long said. “Coach Petrino himself participated in the review and selection process without dis-closing his relationship with her and that constitutes a con-! ict of interest under university policy.”
Long had not been contact-ed by a representative for Dor-rell as of Tuesday night, he said. Her job status was a personnel matter he said he “could not discuss.”
Even without a threat of a legal action from Dorrell, Long made the decision to # re Petri-no.
“I chose to engage in an im-proper relationship,” Petrino said. “I also made several poor decisions following the end of that relationship and in the af-termath of the accident. I accept full responsibility for what has happened.”
by JACK SUNTRUPStaff Writer
Petrino’s Firing Echoes Across Social Media
Members of ‘Team Save Coach Petrino’
Shift Allegiance
FIREDfrom page 1
$ e creator and fans on the “Team Save Coach Petrino” Facebook page shi% ed their loyalties away from Petrino fol-lowing his termination Tues-day.
“I stand by Je" Long,” said Amy Payne, administrator of the Facebook group and orga-nizer of the Save Coach Petrino Rally.
“I’m upset at Bobby Petri-no [because of] the facts that came out,” she said, adding that there were “a lot of tears” when she heard Je" Long’s announce-ment.
Payne credited her support of Long to reports that Petri-no and the UA “were trying to come to an agreement,” which Petrino wouldn’t accept.
However, during the press conference, Long said “there was no negotiation about ways he could remain as football coach.”
Other members of the Face-book group posted support of Je" Long following the press conference, too.
Group member Patricia Lu-cas posted a link to another Facebook group titled “$ ank You Je" Long,” adding that it was “for those of you who support AD Long in this di& -cult decision and still love our Hogs!”
Other posters were con-cerned with the players and the future of Razorback football.
“I know players were think-ing that he was staying,” Payne said, but declined to mention names of players.
by KRISTEN COPPOLAStaff Writer
by MEGAN HUCKABYMultimedia Editor
RYAN MILLER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERMembers of the ‘Save Coach Petrino’ Facebook group had a rally Monday evening in support of Petrino after he was placed on indefinite paid administrative leave Thursday evening by Athletic Director Jeff Long.
“Sad, but proud that my University didn’t put victories above all else.”
- T.J. Holmes, Former CNN Anchor and UA Alum
SUDOKULAUGH IT UP
TODAY’S SOLUTION
Di! culty:
THAT MONKEY TUNE Michael A. Kandalaft
BREWSTER ROCKIT Tim Rickard CALAMITIES OF NATURE Tony Piro
WELCOME TO FALLING ROCK Josh Shalek BLISS Harry Bliss
Q: Why was the scarecrow awarded a nobel prize?
A: Because he was out standing in his fi eld.
Q: What do you call a Frenchman wearing sandals?
A: Philippe Philoppe
Q: What did the green grape say to the purple grape?
A: Breathe, idiot! BREATHE!
Q: Did you hear about the fi re at the circus?
A: It was in tents.
CROSSWORD
SOLUTION
ACROSS1 Key to the le! of F12 Sheepish reply?3 Heavenly body4 Cheese-topped snacks5 Electricity generators6 ___-Bits: cereal7 Pro hoopster8 “" e Prisoner of __”9 Vague quantity10 Tiny fairy tale hero11 Starting point12 Cleaned (up)13 Searches like a detection dog18 Give the boot22 Donkey syllable23 Cinnabar or magnetite24 Lugosi of “Dracula”26 Having a lot of nerve27 Chef Cat __29 Patriotic Olympics chant33 Believer’s su# x34 Gray hair disguiser35 Place for a ring37 Elitism38 Fed. anti-discrimination org.39 Biggers’s detective42 54-Across pronoun43 Pit goo44 Acquiesce45 Defoe title surname46 Longtime Tiger Woods coach Butch __48 Astronaut Shepard49 Chopped, as garlic51 Afghan capital52 Stand out in a $ eld53 Mattress giant57 Sled dog command59 Drillers’ org.60 “I’ve been __!”61 Important time62 Surreptitious
DOWN
Crossword provided by MCT Campus
1 Dark, to a poet5 Tony who played a sitcom 17-Across employee10 Sitters’ charges14 Lee with frozen desserts15 Barkley who served un-der 41-Across16 “... thunder, lightning, __ rain?”: “Macbeth”17 It arranges pickups19 Modest dress20 Like a crowd in awe21 End-of-week exclama-tion22 Vagrants25 Emir28 Mocedades hit whose title means “you are”30 Golf units31 Slippery swimmer32 How Dennis Eckersley pitched36 Simple ... or a hint to the hidden puzzle theme in 17-, 25-, 50- and 59-across.40 Desexes41 FDR’s successor44 Outbursts that provoke blessings47 Harley alternative50 Maryland seafood fare54 " e Lusitania, e.g.55 Sidewalk border56 Guitarist, slangily58 Carlisle’s wife in “Twi-light”59 Sit-up relatives63 It may be barred or bolted64 Songs for two65 English aristocrat66 __, meeny ...67 Muslim god68 June 6, 1944
Comics, Games, & Much Much More!
THE ARKANSAS TRAVELER
DOWNTIMEPAGE 6 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012
SPORTS EDITOR: JIMMY CARTER ASST. SPORTS EDITOR: ZACH TURNER
THE ARKANSAS TRAVELER
SPORTSPAGE 7 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012
FOOTBALL
“This afternoon, I informed coach Petrino that his employment with the university was being terminated immediately.”
Highlights From Long’s Statement
Long’s Emotions Proved His WorthCOMMENTARY
Old Fashioned3-Point Play
ZACH TURNER
GARETH PATTERSON STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
SPORTS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012 PAGE 8
Long said that deciding on whether to name an in-terim will not affect the im-pending coach search.
“We can command a high-level of football coach and we are not going to com-promise that,” Long said. “If we have to go through the season with an interim, I am going to consider that, but again, I need some time to lay out the search.”
Long said he hasn’t con-sidered candidates for in-terim head coach, either.
“I think that I have not made a decision on that,” Long said. “Following spring practice, I will make the decision as to who I thought was the best leader on an interim basis. It could be Taver, it could be Paul Haynes or (Paul) Petrino.”
Long met with the re-maining Razorback coach-ing staff and some of the support staff prior to meet-ing with the Razorback players Tuesday evening.
“I talked to them about the fact I hoped they would carry on, obviously through spring practice, and then I plan on meeting with each
of them individually to dis-cuss the future,” Long said. “I will do that with each member of the football coaching staff.”
Long met with the team shortly after the culmina-tion of the team’s Tues-day practice and informed them of his decision.
“I shared with them my disappointment in having to make the difficult deci-sion,” Long said. “I asked them to try and remain fo-cused on their academics and finishing spring prac-tice. I think honestly, they were understandably con-cerned. Coach Petrino was the leader of their football program.
“At the same time though, they know they have a special football team and teammates that are looking forward to the up-coming year.”
Following consecutive 10-plus-win seasons, Long said he believes the job is more lucrative now than it was when Petrino was hired in December 2007.
“Certainly the success our young people have had on the field is a great factor in that,” Long said.
“Also, upgrading the
football stadium with the new artificial surface and then our football complex that we are building now all make the job more attrac-tive than it even was when coach Petrino took the job.”
Long acknowledged that his decision to terminate Petrino came at an incon-venient time.
“It is a difficult time of year to be searching for a head coach, no question,” Long said. “I do think our program is one that I think people will be interested in and that is part of the pro-cess, seeing what coaches self-identify to us that they are interested in our pro-gram.”
Long assured that he would conduct the search with character of a new coach at the forefront.
“I assure you that we will seek a head football coach that possesses the exper-tise, the leadership skills and character to maintain Razorback football as one of the nation’s elite pro-grams,” Long said. “We will maintain a program of stu-dent-athletes and coaches that all of Arkansas and Ra-zorback fans across the na-tion will be proud of.”
Dec. 2007
Bobby Petrino leaves the Atlanta Falcons and becomes the head coach at the University of Arkansas.
Jan. 2008
Arkansas ! nishes with a 5-7 record and misses the postseason.
Jan. 2009 Arkansas ! nishes with an 8-5 record and Liberty Bowl win.Jan. 2010
Arkansas finishes with a 10-3 record and Sugar Bowl berth.
Jan. 2011
Arkansas ! nishes with 11-2 record, No. 5 ranking and Cotton Bowl victory.
April 10
Bobby Petrino ousted as Arkansas’ football coach.
Bobby Petrino Timeline
Bobby Petrino ousted as Arkansas’ football coach.
December 2007-April 10, 2012
SEAN MORRISON PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
from REPLACEMENTon page 1
RYAN MILLER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Arkansas assistant coach Taver Johnson will continue to run the football operations through the end of the Razorbacks’ spring practice on April 21.