John L. Smith: Timeline of Arkansas' Search for Bobby Petrino Replacement

It's been a wild ride the past couple of weeks for the Arkansas football team. This timeline will highlight the rushed coaching search that the Razorbacks were forced into.

It all began with a little motorcycle accident that led to the events that caused Bobby Petrino to become the former head coach, and it reached a temporary conclusion when John L. Smith was hired on Monday as the head coach of the Arkansas football team on an interim basis. 

This is Smith's second time replacing Petrino. He did so at Louisville in 2006. He was an assistant with Arkansas for the 2009 and '10 seasons, and he will leave his post as the head coach of Weber State to take this job. 

Now let's get into the timeline. 

On Tuesday, April 10th, Bobby Petrino was relieved of his coaching duties at Arkansas. 

Despite the poor timing with which the Razorbacks had to search for a new coach, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long wanted to find a big-name replacement. Here is Long, as quoted by Chris Bahn of Arkansas Sports 360:

"

It's a difficult time of year to be searching for a head football coach. We can command a high level football coach and we are not going to compromise that.  I need some time to play out the search and see where we stand.

"

While embarking on that search, Long turned over the temporary coaching duties, which included running spring practices, to assistant head coach Taver Johnson

On April 15th, UAB head coach Garrick McGee emerged as a frontrunner to replace Petrino. McGee has coached at UAB for just one season. Prior to accepting the job at UAB, McGee served as the Razorbacks QB coach and offensive coordinator for four seasons.

McGee's familiarity with the team would have offered the Razorbacks a certain amount of continuity. Still, his name lacked the punch of the next candidate to emerge.  

On April 18th, CBS Sports reported the Razorbacks had interest in former Tennessee Volunteers head coach Phillip Fulmer.

"

Report: Arkansas in contact with Phillip Fulmer as possible replacement for Bobby Petrino cbsprt.co/IKXmBL

— Eye on College FBall (@EyeOnCFB) April 18, 2012"

While Fulmer would have brought a big name, he would have had to start from scratch, and he would not have had the luxury of time or spring practices to do so. 

Those facts likely led to Arkansas going back to finding a coach that could work with the staff and system in place. Whatever happened, the Razorbacks seemed to be getting a grasp on the timeline to name a replacement. 

On April 18th, Razorback Sports Now filled us in with the planned timeline to name a replacement.

"

Arkansas will name coach next week dlvr.it/1SDDlC

— Razorback Sports Now (@RazorbackSN) April 18, 2012"

On April 19th, Football Scoop reported that Arkansas' desire was to keep as much continuity as possible. That would likely lead to them naming an interim coach.

According to the report, they planned on then embarking on a full coaching search at the conclusion of the season. 

On April 20th, Long released a statement on the school's website to let the public know they were doing their due diligence. 

"

While we have initiated a review of potential candidates both inside and outside the program, the process remains ongoing and will extend beyond the spring game weekend.

While this process is a priority, it is imperative we take the time to identify a leader for our program who will provide the best opportunity to build upon the recent success of our nationally ranked program on and off the field. 

"

On April 21st, Long indicated that the search was nearing its completion. Bahn again had the quote from Long. 

"

I hope to make a decision in days, and it won’t be weeks before we have a decision.

"

This all led to the somewhat surprise announcement on April 22nd that Smith would be taking over.