FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said Wednesday that John L. Smith will remain as the Razorbacks’ head football coach through the remainder of the season.
“I’ve tried to make that clear, but yes, we’re committed to this season,” Long said following his speaking appearance at the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club. “He’s going to lead our team through the season.
“That’s something we made a commitment to back in April, and we’re going to stand behind that commitment.”
Smith, 63, agreed to a 10-month deal for $850,000 in April following the scandal that cost Bobby Petrino his job.
The Razorbacks, with a 1-3 record, are off to their worst start since the 2005 team also lost three games in a row after winning its opener against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent.
“When you lose, it’s tough,” Long told the audience. “Nobody takes that well.”
Long was asked if he had talked to Smith about a series of verbal gaffes committed by the coach, including his reference to the football program belonging “to the state of Ala- bama” in Little Rock on Monday.
“John L. and I speak weekly,” Long said. “We talk about a lot of things, and certainly when he speaks to the public, the messages that he sends, yes, we’ve talked about those things.”
Long would not address a question about whether Smith had become an embarrassment to the program, saying, “Yeah, I don’t want to answer that question.”
The theme of his remarks to members and guests of the club was that he and the department planned to maintain high expectations for the football team while continuing to support it during its struggle.
“We’re not going to shy away from those [high] expectations going forward,” Long said. “Also, I want to be clear with you here today, I remain steadfastly behind this group of young men and this coaching staff.”
Long, who is in his fifth year as athletic director, said the Razorbacks have enlarged their national profile in recent seasons with a 21-5 mark in 2010 and 2011 and should be an attractive destination for head coaches.
“I think we’ve raised our national reputation over the last five years,” he said. “I think we’ve shown that you can do it at Arkansas. You can win. You can make the BCS. We can be in contention to win a national championship.
“Again, it’s a factor of being in the toughest division of the toughest conference. It’s about being a competitor. If you want to compete, this is the place to come and compete.”
Long said he would conduct his search for a full-time coach in a confidential manner, rather than in a public forum. He said his search these days consists of doing background checks on potential candidates and that he has not sought conversations with prospects or representatives of potential coaches.
“They can reach out to me, obviously, and I would listen to them, but you know, I don’t think I’m actively reaching out to them,” he said. “I’ve gotten messages to talk to people and we’ve talked some, but that’s not something — I want to be clear — I’m actively going out and doing because it’s not an appropriate time to do that.
“There’s plenty of time at the end of the season.”
Long spoke as if his candidate pool is a large one and that he had not ruled out NFL coaches or current coordinators.
Asked if any sitting head coaches have made it known through representatives or friends that they would have interest in the Arkansas job at season’s end, Long said that was “hard to say.”
“You know, there were things back in April. But ... I’m not being coy, I just don’t recall anybody really reaching out and making that known,” Long said. “Because I think those coaches also understand that, you know, we’re playing a football season.”
Sports, Pages 17 on 09/27/2012