Jeff Long Leaves as CFP Selection Committee Chairman: Latest Comments, Reaction

On the heels of Alabama's College Football Playoff National Championship victory, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long will not return as the director of the playoff selection committee next season.   

ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy reported Tuesday that Long would not keep his post in 2016. Selection committee chairman Bill Hancock confirmed Long's move to Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com.

Long has been the CFP selection committee chairman since it was first established in October 2013. He was part of a 13-member panel that determined which four teams would compete in the College Football Playoff. 

After last year's inaugural playoff, Long was unanimously re-elected as the committee's chairman by the other members of the group.

Before his re-election, per ESPN.com's Heather Dinich, Long said the entire selection committee felt the weight of what its decision meant to teams and the sport: 

"

Most of the people in that room came from the background of student-athletes and players, and there was a sense of, 'We need to get this right for those four teams and those student-athletes and how hard they worked and prepared.' Only four teams could make it, and we felt -- I did -- it felt heavier as we got closer to that championship weekend.

"

The selection committee has endured its share of criticism during its brief two-year run with Long at the helm, but there's no denying how well things have worked out. 

Ohio State was a controversial choice to make the final four two years ago, but it rode Ezekiel Elliott and Cardale Jones to a national title with wins over Alabama and Oregon. Alabama and Clemson were the two best teams in college football this season and met in the title game, with the Crimson Tide prevailing 45-40 Monday.

Given the unusual structure with college football's postseason system, finding a 100 percent consensus is virtually impossible. Long was able to lead a diverse group of people to fairly decide which teams deserved to make the playoffs.

The next person to hold Long's chair does not have an easy task, though he or she has been given a strong template to build upon.