Apparently Greg Doyle didn't. Some excerpts from his article-

And son of a ...

Arkansas did it. Arkansas hired John L. Smith. Arkansas replaced one selfish, loathsome coach with another.

Bobby Petrino was a bad guy. No honor, no loyalty, no decency. He was that way before Jessica Dorrell, so let's leave her and their affair out of it. Simply from an employee standpoint, the way Petrino once interviewed in midseason at Louisville for the Auburn job held by a friend, continued to flirt and flirt and flirt with other jobs, later left an NFL team in midseason ... well, you get the point. Bobby Petrino is a rotten employee. A guy who better win, and win big, to mask the fact he's such a bad guy.

And to replace Bobby Petrino, Arkansas hired a guy who was just hired at Weber State. Hadn't even coached a game at Weber State. Just worked the spring scrimmage, and now will see himself out. Thanks for the job.

Buh-bye.

So really, what is Weber State?

It's John L. Smith's alma mater.

That's all. Just his alma mater. The school he attended from 1968-71, where he played both ways -- quarterback and linebacker -- and was the Big Sky scholar-athlete as a senior. After returning to his alma mater in December, Smith talked about leading Weber State to the national championship and gushed, "I've always had a place in my heart for Weber State."

This is who Arkansas picked to replace the indecent Petrino: It picked a guy who didn't have the decency to coach a single game after being hired by his alma mater. Jeff Long, the Arkansas athletics director, might be the single worst judge of character I've ever seen. I mean, this is the guy who hired Petrino from Atlanta in the middle of Petrino's first season as the Falcons head coach.

John L. Smith was never going to turn down this job. Not out of loyalty to Weber State. Not even out of decency. Decency, John L. Smith? This is the same guy who left Louisville for Michigan State late in the 2002 season. How late? Well, it was like this. Louisville was playing Marshall in the GMAC Bowl when the news broke that Smith, coaching there on the sideline, had taken the Michigan State job. TV cameras showed Louisville players learning -- during the game -- that their coach had taken another job.

That's John L. Smith. As Weber State just learned, that will always be John L. Smith.

This is your new coach, Arkansas. Same as the old coach.

Only not as good.

Personally, I still think it was a pretty good move by Long under the circumstances. But, I would have to agree that leaving your alma mater, before coaching a game, is not very classy.

This is the first I've heard that Smith was hired. But if so it's business. If he had been hired by his Alma Mater and his Alma Mater was Alabama, Florida or Tennessee, he wouldn't be coming to Arkansas. But Weber State? Come on. What person in his right mind would turn down the Arkansas job to stay at Weber State, Alma Mater or no Alma Mater. I don't know what he'll be paid, but I'm certain the increase in one year's salary would probably be enough to retire for life.

Smith is a good coach. And he knows the system and the players. He'll keep the staff in place, with Paul Petrino calling plays for the offense, and they won't skip a beat. He's had success at several places and can act as a caretaker for the program. Look. Some people are pissed at Petrino, and they're going to look for reasons to be pissed at whatever Arkansas does, or whomever Arkansas hires. Something had to be done quickly, and this was probably the best solution to a sticky problem. Only time will tell if it's the right decision, but I trust Jeff Long's judgement.

I just read Yahoo sports, and they think it's a great hire. It's only a 10 month contract, and that keeps the staff intact and gives Jeff Long time to find a permanent replacement for Petrino. Of course if Smith is successful, he could get a more permanent contract, but for now he's an interim coach. Smart thinking on Long's part.

[quote='outsideualr' pid='7812494' dateline='1335230653']
This is the first I've heard that Smith was hired. But if so it's business. If he had been hired by his Alma Mater and his Alma Mater was Alabama, Florida or Tennessee, he wouldn't be coming to Arkansas. But Weber State? Come on. What person in his right mind would turn down the Arkansas job to stay at Weber State, Alma Mater or no Alma Mater. I don't know what he'll be paid, but I'm certain the increase in one year's salary would probably be enough to retire for life.

Maybe someone with a shred of decency, who believes his word means something, and puts "doing the right thing" ahead of money. I for one, still believe there are people in the world like that. Apparently Coach McGee might be that type of person, since some say he turned down the Arkansas job, because he didn't believe it was "right" to abandon UAB a few months after they hired him.

Geez, here we go again. This is why this board sucks.

(04-24-2012 04:44 AM)Scotto Wrote:  Geez, here we go again. This is why this board sucks.

Sorry Scotto. Woo Pig Sooie!

I do believe it was a good hire, all things considered.

It's not any of my business, but evidently Long doesn't have any problem hiring a coach that had given Weber State his word that he would coach their team, and then bailing out before he ever coached a game. Wouldn't have been as bad had he done this before the team went through Spring practice. Now they are faced with either hiring one of the assistants on an interim basis, or hiring a coach who will have to retain their staff, or bring in another entire new staff, and implementing a new system in the summer camp.

I feel for the Weber team, staff, and their fans. I sure wouldn't like it if someone had come in and hired a coach of ours and we were in their situation.

(04-25-2012 11:48 AM)LRTrojan Wrote:  It's not any of my business, but evidently Long doesn't have any problem hiring a coach that had given Weber State his word that he would coach their team, and then bailing out before he ever coached a game. Wouldn't have been as bad had he done this before the team went through Spring practice. Now they are faced with either hiring one of the assistants on an interim basis, or hiring a coach who will have to retain their staff, or bring in another entire new staff, and implementing a new system in the summer camp.

I feel for the Weber team, staff, and their fans. I sure wouldn't like it if someone had come in and hired a coach of ours and we were in their situation.

That was my point. It's simply not "right". Maybe "doing the right thing" doesn't mean anything to anyone anymore. All that matters is the almighty dollar. Probably folks who have a "me first" attitude end up more "successful" and more wealthy. It's still rather sad.