Jeff Long never had a scheduled interview with the University of Texas.
Yes, the University of Arkansas athletic director was approached by the brass of the burnt orange about being the Longhorns’ next athletic director. Yes, he was on their short list of three candidates. Yes, for about a day he thought about it but he never kept any of it a secret from his boss, University of Arkansas Chancellor Dave Gearhart.
Gearhart probably did what any boss who wanted to keep an employee would do - he gave him a small bump in pay and asked him not to go, saying that their work at Arkansas was not complete. Long was hired by former Chancellor John White, but it was on Gearhart’s recommendation.
So last week, long before the story broke that he was a finalist along with West Virginia Athletic Director Oliver Luck and Arizona State’s Steve Patterson, Long told the University of Texas no, thanks.
Yes, Texans will spin it that Long withdrew because he knew the job was going to Luck, who got his law degree from UT after five seasons in the NFL, which should make him the front runner. The Longhorn Nation loves guys who have some orange blood in their background. He also happens to be the father of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
The truth will always be UT contacted Long. It was interested enough to tell him if he got the job it would be a big raise for him, which is probably why Long even slept on it.
It is no secret that Long and the Arkansas athletic department are about to take on three huge projects, which may include a basketball practice facility and enclosing the north end zone of Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
It would be especially difficult for Long to go in front of the UA Board of Trustees and ask for permission to get a $90 to $100 million bond if those 10 people thought he had been on the verge of leaving.
Convincing them may be hard enough considering the football team is 3-6, winless in the SEC, and the basketball team hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2008. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, attendance is down at most college football games and it reported Arkansas is down about 16 percent.
Also, enclosing and enlarging Razorback Stadium will most likely mean the end of the long-standing tradition of playing games at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium, which could be controversial.
Texas has the nation’s largest athletic budget, andit, along with Arkansas, are only two of 22 programs that are profitable.
Long was recently named chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee (Luck is also on the committee), honored as a 2013 Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year and was responsible for the Razorbacks’ new football facility that opened a few months ago.
He will be honored by the Central Arkansas Boys and Girls Club on Nov. 21.
Just a week after being named the Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week, Little Rock’s Andrew Flesher won the award again after he calmly kicked a 23-yard field goal with just 48 seconds to play to give Harvard a 24-21victory over Dartmouth last Saturday.
He already had field goals of 34 and 32 yards when he booted the winner. Flesher has kicked five field goals and is 12 of 12 on extra points since taking over for injured senior David Mothander.
Flesher, a junior and son of Greg and Dora Jane Flesher, is a graduate of Episcopal Collegiate and one of only two Arkansans listed on the Harvard football roster with Phil Hay, a freshman from El Dorado, being the other.
Harvard is 6-1 on the season.
Sports, Pages 17 on 11/05/2013