Comments on: Where Was Long While Petrino Hired His Mistress At Arkansas?

By: Homepage | MrSEC

Homepage | MrSEC — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:33:36 +0000

[...] Petrino scandal takes on new light following the mess at Penn State. (And don’t forget, AD Jeff Long helped speed up the hiring of the coach’s mistress by getting UA’s HR department to fast-track things past affirmative action [...]

By: Homepage | MrSEC

Homepage | MrSEC — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:57:05 +0000

[...] Some in the Arkansas media believe Long and others inside the UA athletic department were aware of the Petrino-Dorrell relationship well before the two crashed the coach’s bike. Anonymous sources have given them that information, but no one has gone on the record to confirm it. If true, it would mean Long knowingly allowed Petrino to hire his mistress and that he helped speed up the process at the coach’s request. [...]

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:35:08 +0000

Hogphan…

First, I’m suggesting that when something this ugly happens in an athletic department, the AD will eventually have to answer questions about it. That’s it. People can read other things into the story that aren’t there if they like… but that’s the whole gist.

The University of Arkansas could be on the hook via lawsuits for money, the school has certainly gotten plenty of bad press, and the guy who oversaw the department in which the problem occurred may well be asked why he helped to fast-track a hire.

I’ll bet he won’t make that mistake again.

Second, I said we wouldn’t make fun of the story and write five stories a day on the topic — as I recall. We don’t think it’s funny. It’s a sad story. I feel bad for Petrino and for Dorrell and their families and their friends. Another girl was dragged into the story last week as well. All sad.

Now, if you don’t think our coverage has been much more serious and sensitive than most other blogs and most other sites, that’s your call. I would strongly disagree.

But we will cover a news story. And that’s what this is. We simply don’t want to sensationalize it. And I don’t feel we’ve come anywhere close to doing that.

Again, I would think this story is pretty darn clear. If I had an employee and he had something in his department blow up that could cost my whole business money and hurt its reputation, I’d ask him a) how’d this happen and b) how can we make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future.

Thanks for reading the site,
John

By: Hogphan

Hogphan — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:19:46 +0000

For Long not to have agreed to Petrino’s request would have required him to have assumed there was something fishy going on there. That’s a pretty long stretch, in my opinion. Are you suggesting that anytime someone in the U of A personnel dept gets such a request, whether in the athletic dept or not, a review should be done to see if there any questionable motives? On another subject, do I remember that when this story first broke, you worte that you wouldn’t be trying to write often about it to exploit it? If my memory on this question is correct, you’ve failed. Except for this criticism, I enjoy you site.

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:16:42 +0000

Tracer Round…

He made it clear that Petrino had kept the relationship hidden from him until the last moment. Just to be clear, we don’t suggest that Long did anything wrong here. We’re simply saying that this was his department and the buck stops with the boss.

Long can’t be blamed for not knowing of Petrino’s affair… but he might be questioned as to how such a mess was made in his department. Even if it wasn’t his fault… how he can try to prevent things like this — specifically the fast-tracked hiring of a coach’s mistress — in the future.
Thanks for reading the site,
John

By: Tracer Round

Tracer Round — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:28:23 +0000

Was AD Long ever asked specifically when he first knew about the affair? Was he ever asked if he knew of other affairs of BP?

By: omahahog

omahahog — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:35:54 +0000

I’ll give AD Long a pass on this one. If someone wants to have a secret affair, they can hide it in most cases (until there is a motorcycle wreck). I suspect AD Long regrets making the exception for the hiring process to be shortened. I also suspect no one under him will get that benefit of the doubt again. He didnt’ have any reason to doubt that BP was being forthright with him when he indicated he needed the job filled right away, and frankly AD Long probably gave him a professional courtesy due to how well UA was doing in football, revenue, donations, etc. Those things happen, to the best of us….we simply get burned once in a while for being too trusting.

I don’t blame Mr. SEC for the article or consider John to be beating the horse, at least not on the Long angle. Besides, its a slow time of year and something has to be written about. No one would reason web sites if there weren’t new articles. Now, if we get more article about Petrino stories that have the same old stuff we’ve read a million times, that will be beating the proverbial horse.

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:54:52 +0000

redhog…

Yep. Beatin’ the living hell out of this one. Mentioned the Long angle in one paragraph of a totally different story yesterday and then expounded on it — to try and make it clear what the issue is — today. If that’s beating a dead horse, then I guess that’s what I’m doing. One story and one paragraph in more than a week.

Thanks for reading,
John

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:53:09 +0000

Hogitall…

My point was this — Jeff Long runs the UA athletic department. A bad thing happened in his department. At some point, someone’s going to ask how he didn’t catch on and how he can prevent things like sped-up hiring procedures in the future.

Thanks for reading,
John

By: redhog

redhog — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:24:57 +0000

One thing i’ll say for you John……you will beat a dead horse until it’s….. well…..dead. And i’m NO Jeff Long fan, but…if he gets the ax it will be for his next hire, not this. Should have kept CBP….IMHO.

By: Hogitall

Hogitall — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:14:32 +0000

Everything that I’ve read on this subject indicates Jeff Long had no knowledge of the inappropriate relationship between Patrino and Dorrell. I’ve worked in human resource areas and know that there are times it is appropriate to consider speeding up the hiring process. Given that there is no indication of any improprieties with Long’s actions, I would agree with Jason’s response. In the future I have no doubt Jeff Long will do a little more investigation into a similar request before approaching the Human Resources department.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:47:42 +0000

The Human Resources department is who this falls on. They are ones with knowledge of compliance and regulations for affirmitave action. They should have denied the request based on policy.

By: Bubba Gump

Bubba Gump — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:40:12 +0000

John,

You can argue both sides based on unequal environments. Not defending Long, but filling a football position at a state institution may be different than filling an academic or operational position for a state institution that runs on a July 1 – June 30 fiscal year. The football position may be more time sensitive than a non football position, yet the rules were established for a governmental model. If Long was doing it knowing the affair was out there, that is one thing. If Long was speeding up the process just to fit a football timeline, that is another.