Arkansas' Long Faces Tough Search for New Head Coach

So the coaching search at Arkansas begins in earnest, as disastrous interim head football coach John L. Smith finally rides off into the sunset with a nice sendoff (but a mercifully quick one) from athletic director Jeff Long.Smith has been retained as a “consultant” until his contract runs out in February, but I seriously doubt any new coach who comes to Fayetteville will want to take Smith’s advice on anything other than maybe “Where can you get the best cup of coffee in the athletic department?”Smith, who somehow got himself $40 million in debt through really, really bad real estate investments in Kentucky, has more on his plate than welcoming new coaches. He’d better concentrate on his financial and legal troubles lest he be “consulting” only during visiting hours at the Kentucky state prison.Long said something in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Sunday that I know he had to say, but it just isn’t so. He said this year’s 4-8 record will not impact the coaching search. I beg to dif...