John L. Smith just keeps on smiling.  His team is 4-6 and just 2-4 in the SEC, but Smith continues to look on the bright side of life (NSFW).  The man thrown into an unwinnable situation — made so because most believed the Arkansas situation was way too winnable — isn’t thinking about the end of his tenure as the Razorbacks’ interim coach.  He’s still trying to be optimistic.

According to the Associated Press, Smith said the following during a press gathering yesterday:

“I’m the most optimistic guy you could imagine.  So, I’m always optimistic.  I’m optimistic on us going to Starkville and getting a win this weekend.  The other stuff can take care of itself.  I’m not overly worried about any of that…

That’s way over my head, mentally (to reflect on his coaching career).  I have trouble just concentrating on today and this part of our season and where we are.  I’m going to love every day that we go do the practice field, because that’s the best part of my day and being around those guys is what it’s all about.  And thank God I’ve had the opportunity to do that.

I’m just knocking on wood, stretch it as far as we want or as far as we can.”

Players like quarterback Tyler Wilson and kicker Zach Hocker still speak highly of Smith and they should.  While many Hog fans have blamed him for their team’s collapse, the real culprit is Bobby Petrino, the sunshiney Smith.  It should be clear in Arkansas today — just as it was clear in Louisville after he left there — that the secret to Petrino’s winning programs isn’t great recruiting classes, great assistants, or great defense… it’s Petrino himself.

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Upon his dismissal at Arkansas, Bobby Petrino released a statement suggesting their might be a time and a place to refute AD Jeff Long’s decision to show him the door.  Chancellor G. David Gearhart released a brief, bias-less statement saying that a clause in Petrino’s contract made it possible that the ex-coach could bring his case to him and that he might have to rule on whether or not Petrino deserved the boot Long gave him.

According to Joe Schad of ESPN, the coach won’t exercise his right to appeal:


“Petrino has accepted responsibility for his actions and resulting termination, the source said.”


Meanwhile, the Associated Press obtained some of the text messages that had not been deleted from Petrino’s phone.  Those transcripts show a man who after his suspension was — quite naturally — worried sick that he might lose his $3.5 million-per-year job with the Razorbacks.  And according to one text message exchange with an assistant AD at the school, it appears that UA was looking for a way to keep him:


Assistant AD Chris Wyrick:  “Coach, I know I sometimes aggravate you, but PLEASE listen to me.  Does Jeff (Long) know EVERYTHING from your standpoint??”

Petrino:  “Yes I believe he does.  Is the mood to fire me or to keep me???”

Wyrick:  “I can’t honestly speak to (Long’s) pulse on that, but my gut is he wants it to work.  You have done the job and most feel like you are due a mulligan.”


If Petrino had simply carried on an inappropriate relationship, he might just have gotten that mulligan.  But Long’s investigation into the matter found that Petrino had hired Jessica Dorrell into his department over 158 other candidates in a faster then normal fashion.  He’d also given Dorrell a gift of $20,000. 

In other words, he’d opened the University of Arkansas up to a number of lawsuits from a number of people.

So much for the mulligan.  And with his decision not to appeal — even though his chances of winning some form of buyout were slim to begin with — so much for Petrino at Arkansas.

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The South Carolina football squad remained 17th in the USA TODAY/Coaches poll but slipped one notch to 18th in the Associated Press poll released today.
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