BETWEEN THE LINES

Petrino Has Created A Big Mess

Initial reports of Bobby Petrino’s motorcycle accident indicated the head coach of the football Razorbacks was hurt. Until Thursday, few could have imagined how much.

It seemed then as if his biggest mistake was not wearing a helmet as he rode into the sun and lost control of the bike. That wasn’t his biggest mistake.

We won’t know the extent of his “injury” for a while.

Yet, what were concerns about the coach’s physical health have expanded to include questions about the highly successful coach’s job future. The whole matter is under review by University of Arkansas off cials.

News broke on Thursday that Petrino had covered up the fact that a female employee of the football program was on the bike with him when he wrecked, complicating the situation immensely.

The weight of it all showed that night as Jeft Long, the UA athletic director, addressed the media, reporting that he had placed Petrino on paid leave. Petrino had admitted to Long that day that he hadn’t told the whole story about what happened - including the involvement of Jessica Dorrell. Dorrell is the 25-year-old woman who was on the back of his motorcycle a week ago when Petrino crashed near Crossesin Madison County. A former UA volleyball player who previously worked for The Razorback Foundation Inc., she had just been hired a few days earlier as student-athlete development coordinator for football.

Petrino said publicly later he was wrongly trying to conceal her identity to protect his family and “a previous inappropriate relationship.”

Signifi cantly, Petrino’s admission to Long came just prior to public release earlier in the afternoon of the Arkansas State Police report on Petrino’s accident. Until then, Long apparently knew what the rest of us did about the accident. Passersby from Ozark had come upon the wreck on Arkansas 16 east of Fayetteville and carried a bloody and injured Petrino into Fayetteville, where a State Police captain who has worked the coach’s security detail met them and took the coach to a local hospital.

What came to light Thursday was that the passersby apparently were flagged down by Dorrell, who, according to the StatePolice report, was driven to an intersection in Fayetteville where her car was parked and where a state trooper picked up Petrino to take him to the hospital.

Petrino’s injuries, the coach said at a Tuesday news conference after leaving the hospital, included four broken ribs, a neck sprain and a cracked vertebra.

Dorrell was not injured, according to the police report.

On Thursday, Petrino apologized for his mistake in judgment and said he wants to repair his relationships with his wife and family, Long and Razorback fans and to keep his job.

Clearly, a clause in Petrino’s multi-milliondollar contract would allow termination if his superiors determine that his conduct is contrary to the character and responsibilities of the head football coach or “negatively or adversely aft ects the reputation” of the university or the athletics program.

It falls to Long to investigate the details further regarding both Petrino and Dorrell.

Long wisely reacted quickly to the newly released information, meeting with Petrino, suspending him, then sharing what Long knew then with the public.

While Long’s primary job is to run a successful athletic department, he has a huge burden now as he determines a course ofaction.

There’s no question that the eyes of the sports universe and just about everyone in Arkansas are on this football program. They were before the coach’s accident and the subsequent admissions.

Before, the anticipation was all about the football Razorbacks’ prospects for a national title.

Now, the interest is in Petrino’s conduct with a subordinate public employee and with his attempted cover-up of the situation, including lies to the public and his boss - and the pursuit of that national title.

This is an unmitigated mess, exaggerated by the instant outpouring of public reaction that has included calls for Petrino’s dismissal and steadfast support for his remaining as head coach.

There’ll be no speculation here on what Long will do or should do, only a reminder that the athletic director’s responsibilities extend far beyond the coach or even the football program.

That late-night news conference Thursday illustrated that Long certainly knows the stakes.

He surely understands, too, how critical it is for him to be thorough in his investigation and totally forthcoming about what he learns.

BRENDA BLAGG IS A COLUMNIST FOR NWA MEDIA.

Opinion, Pages 12 on 04/08/2012

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