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Arkansas Makes Best of Bad Situation
Published: 4/25/2012 2:43 PM
Last Modified: 4/25/2012 2:43 PM

John L. Smith’s hiring as Arkansas football coach was the best possible outcome for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas gets the best possible result from an impossible situation.
And, if it doesn’t work out, the Razorbacks will have the option to go out and hire a new coach at the end of next season.
Smith, who was the special teams coach at Arkansas the past two years, has lot of head coaching experience.
So, going to Weber State and getting him to come back to Arkansas gives the Razorbacks an experienced head coach familiar with the current players and coaching staff at Arkansas.
That is the best possible option for a team that should be a top 10 team with national championship dreams.
There were other head coaches out there that were possibilities, including UAB’s Garrick McGee, familiar with the current team.
However, no one had the experience of Smith.
In addition, by getting a one-year contract, Arkansas can walk away from Smith if it wants next winter and go out and make the splash hire that some Arkansas boosters wanted.
The downside is that Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long once again appears to have done what is best for Arkansas with no regard for the other school or team - in this case Weber State. First, he hires Bobby Petrino away from the Atlanta Falcons despite a lot of character questions.
Now, Long hires Smith away from Weber State just four months into Smith’s new job at his alma mater. Smith had put together a coaching staff and 18 recruits.
Now, he’s gone barely 100 days into his new job.
None of that will matter to Arkansas fans if Smith delivers the expected big season next fall.



Reader Comments 2 Total
But What Do I Know? (10 months ago)
Todd Graham is available. Always is.
217719 (10 months ago)
Long, the AD, has a moral compass pointed south. He deserves all the credit for hiring Petrino, with red flags flying everywhere. He's the one who signed off on hiring Jessical Dorrell & fast tracking her interviews & hires.

He did not want to fire him. The lawyers said he had to can him.

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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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