John L. Smith Named Arkansas Coach: School Hasn't Learned from Past Mistakes

John L. Smith may have a distinguished and successful career at Arkansas, but his hiring still leaves me scratching my head.

It is impossible not to draw some similarities to Smith's exit from Weber State, and former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino's quick exits from the Atlanta Falcons and Louisville Cardinals.

Have the Razorbacks not learned what hiring a tactless coach can do to their program?

Smith took over the job with Weber State just five months ago—he hasn't even coached a game for the school. Yet he is already grinning in Fayetteville, ready to coach in the SEC.

What's worse, Weber State is Smith's alma mater. If there is no loyalty in that dynamic, will there be any shown to Arkansas and, more importantly, his players?

I understand the lure of coaching in the SEC. I also understand that being the head coach at Arkansas is a huge upgrade from being in charge at Weber State. But don't these things seem a little too much like the issues the school is trying to distance itself from?

He hasn't committed the moral infractions Petrino has, but I contend Petrino's biggest flaw was poor decision-making. In my opinion, leaving a coaching job before you start falls in that same category.

No two people are exactly the same. Just because Petrino has rang up a list of undesirable decisions and proven untrustworthy doesn't mean Smith will be the same.

That said, shouldn't the hiring of a head coach for a collegiate athletics team have something to do with perception of character?

Hiring Smith is almost like firing a coach for his part in recruiting violations, then replacing him with a guy with a slightly similar history.

This doesn't make a ton of sense to me. It doesn't say much about Arkansas' commitment to improving the school's image.

I guess that just isn't important.

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