Arkansas never offered him, Miles indicated twice, the second one very obvious.
This was either
1. a brilliant smokescreen by Long to throw media off the scent of his real hire
2. an agreement by Long and Miles' agent to get Miles more money, possibly in exchange for some assistance in the coaching search
3. a combination of 1 and 2
4. as Dennis Dodd suggested, Long showing the nation that he sold out and failed. Possibly as an excuse for an unimpressive hire.
@TruancyBot Long has a verbal agreement from his coach's agent, but that coach's team is playing this Saturday. Thus Long can't announce him until next Monday/Tuesday at the earliest, and didn't want the media to pick up the trail, thus a distraction. He's pulled a "smokescreen" with every single one of his hires, whether by accident or on purpose.
Arkansas recruit Kaleb Blanchard said yesterday that he was told all of Arkansas' finalist candidates have games on Saturday, and the new coach would be announced next week.
