Jeff Long Out As Arkansas AD, Staying on CFP Selection Committee
Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long will not return, according to SI.com’s Bruce Feldman and multiple media reports.
Feldman reports that Long’s fate was sealed at last week’s Board of Trustees meeting, which Long flew in for but was not allowed to take part in. The struggles of the football program under coach Bret Bielema, a Long hire, played a major role in the change.
Long has been the AD at Arkansas since 2008 taking over from legendary figure Frank Broyles and previously headed the athletic department at Pittsburgh. His contract is set to end on June 30.
During Long's tenure at the school, he hired Bobby Petrino after his less than year-long stint with the Atlanta Falcons. Petrino was fired four years later after lying about his relationship with a staffer after a motorcycle accident.
Long then hired Bielema, who won parts of three Big Ten titles at Wisconsin but is 29–32 overall and 11–27 in SEC play over his five seasons at the school, including a 4–6 mark this year.
Long was also the first chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee in 2014 and ’15 will remain a member of the committee. Bill Hancock, the committee's executive director, said the committee voted unanimously to ask Long to remain on the committee and that Long accepted.
