FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Coach John L. Smith, speaking Tuesday from the ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn., said he and his team are hoping to convince Athletic Director Jeff Long to keep him on board by season’s end.
Asked on ESPNU if there was a victory total he had to reach to guarantee he would keep his job, Smith said no bar had been set to his knowledge.
“Unless it’s in Jeff’s mind where that bar is set, I’m not aware of that,” Smith said during his tour of the ESPN campus with other SEC coaches.
“The only thing that we’ll do, we’ll carry on a conversation about it.
“The way I look at it, the way our staff looks at it, and hopefully the way this football team and program look at it, is we’re going to give Jeff no other choice except to have to bring us back.”
Long has said all options are open on the Razorbacks’ coach for 2013 and that he has not set a victory total for Smith to retain his position.
Smith is working under a one-season contract worth $850,000.
Sports, Pages 24 on 07/25/2012