Looks like Pitt will be in a position to find another prominent person for their athletic department. First it was the coaches; Dixon, then Wannstedt. Now, it’s the guy who hired/kept those two.
Pittsburgh athletic director Jeff Long will replace Frank Broyles in the same position at Arkansas, a person with knowledge of Long’s decision said Monday.
Broyles is retiring as the Razorbacks’ athletic director at the end of this year, and a person familiar with Long’s decision said he will leave Pitt to take over at Arkansas. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made.
Arkansas would not confirm Long’s hiring, but spokesman Tysen Kendig said a news conference was set for Tuesday afternoon regarding the athletic program.
Arkansas’ search had been a secretive one until last week, when Stanley Reed, chairman of the school’s board of trustees, confirmed that Long was “a strong candidate.” (The WWL)
It was looking more and more apparent that this was going to happen, but the press conference that Arkansas will hold tomorrow will probably confirm it. ESPN doesn’t usually put up items that turn out to be untrue (except saying Mike Vick wouldn’t plead guilty) so to me, this is a done deal. The AP story mentions that Long has few ties to Arkansas, a point echoed by a writer in that area. The question that matters — who’s the next Pitt AD?
Update: Two more stories from the local TV stations down there.
Agreed.
I know I would immediately up my yearly financial contributions to PITT if May is made AD.
Who was it that said they thought he’d earn no more than 250K?
The way I saw it — and still see it — is that unless Pitt really hires an ace to replace JL, we fans may be in for a helluva disappointment; much like Chas stated in an earlier post, though we might not have liked the guy insofar as marketing the football program (viz dino-cat/dog) and scheduling its opponents, he did (in fact) do his job. (Aside from Dixon’s influence in the matter, you can’t fault the AD in his efforts to coordinate and seal-the-deal in contests vs. Duke, Washington, OKSt, Wisc, etc.) And grudgingly, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt in the Clemson debacle; IMO, he didn’t kill the supposed 1-4-1, and even if there was if both University’s was reached some mutual decision by both parties to dissolve the contract — I wouldn’t disagree with anyone contending that Pitt appeared ambivalent to see it through with the Tigers — I don’t believe for a second that Long saw any real benefit in backing out. Really, if one program stood more-to-lose-than-gain by playing that game, it was Clemson. And whereas nobody wants the kind of exposure that comes with being annihilated on ESPN, JL was progressively more inclined than not, to gamble and play to the odds of a higher caliber opponent.
We don’t see PSUcks taking any risks their football program unless you consider the Temple Owls a competitive non-con foe. And remarkably, based on earlier statements in defense of their renewal of the “instate rivalry,” you could legitimately argue that Lions consider Owls a challenge worthy opponent. Sh*t, even the basketball side of things is so preposterously arrogant that they’d prefer to side step Pitt than take the loss and…oh yeah, the potential interest and revenue generated by a televised broadcast; college hoops is big-market stuff, so even if a game draws only marginal interest from a regional audience, there’s still more to profit than there is to lose.
For now at least, PSU can and will get away with being ultraconservative. And they can afford their ignorance — you’d be equally right to call it a stubborn will to, literally, win-at-all-costs. But Pitt can’t do that. Not with the football program the way it is now. So whoever Long’s replacement, I hope to hell he’s willing to take some chances, and I don’t mean changing the design of the uniforms.
