Arkansas Football: Why Jeff Long Deserves to Be Athletic Director of the Year

We discussed last week why Arkansas should do whatever it takes to keep athletics director Jeff Long in Fayetteville. He had been mentioned as a possibility for Stanford's vacancy before committing to stay with Arkansas.

Now you can add another bullet point to his already shiny resume.

Sports Business Journal announced its nominees for the Sports Business Awards on Monday, and Long has been nominated for Athletic Director of the Year. Long joins Michigan's Dave Brandon, Bill Bradshaw of Temple, Baylor's Ian McCaw and Mark Hollis of Michigan State as finalists for the award.

Long should be honored that he's nominated, but he should be disappointed if he doesn't win. After all, he deserves it.

Arkansas has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success under Long's leadership. Since taking over in 2008, Arkansas' total revenue has increased according to numbers released by USA Today.

Granted, some of that success has to do with the SEC's television contract, but Long hired Bobby Petrino. The Petrino era didn't end well, but he did lead the Razorbacks to a level of success that it hasn't enjoyed since the program joined the SEC in 1992.

Athletic directors are often judged on their impact on the bottom line, but Long showed a remarkable ability to deal with crisis management during the investigation that eventually led to the dismissal of Petrino. He achieved rock-star status after he conducted an investigation that was quick, transparent and effective.

He's been successful on the bottom line, but he's also displayed the ability to not let money get in the way of doing the right thing, even when the spotlight was shining bright.

Long has been a big part of Arkansas' success on the football field and on the bottom line, and for that, he deserves to be recognized.

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