Q&A with Jeff Long

Jeff Long has been athletic director at the University of Arkansas since 2008, overseeing a financially self-sustaining athletics program that generated nearly $100 million revenue in the 2015-16 school year.

He recently sat down in his office inside Bud Walton Arena for a Q-and-A with the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, touching on a number of topics both professional and personal, including the shifting landscape of college athletics, his strong passion for education and the escalating arms race in college coaching salaries.

Northwest Arkansas Business Journal: What are your general thoughts on the state of the athletic department as the 2016-17 academic year begins? Where are the strengths?

Jeff Long: We are in the strongest financial position we’ve been in in our history. We’re in the strongest academic position we’ve been in in our history. Things are generally good. Of course, we’re always gauged by the numbers of wins and losses. But we’re very proud of the program we’re running, the kinds of student-athletes we’re recruiting and we’re winning with. We always want to win more, and believe me, we’re trying with every fiber of our body to win.  But, we are winning academically and financially, and those two things will help us win on the field of play.

NWABJ: Obviously one of the bigger storylines off the field this summer has centered on the proposed renovation of Razorback Stadium, a project that will be completed prior to the 2018 season. Tell me about the final vote that wrapped up the process to get approval? It was civil, all things considered, but were you surprised at the pushback?

JL: No. I think trustees are charged with knowing what goes on on campus. I never took any questions as a negative for us. We’re a transparent program. We really are. We’re proud of that. I understand the role of trustees so I wasn’t surprised. They have to vote, and they voted their conscience in the end. And I was very pleased that the vast majority supported us. Time will tell, but we’ll hope that those dissenting trustees will see our vision and ultimately be supportive of it.

NWABJ: The Razorbacks athletic department is self-supporting, of course, so how often do you find yourself pushing back at the argument to remind people that the program doesn’t take away from other university programs?

JL: That is a frustration, as many times as we think we say and communicate it. We do not receive state funds, we do not receive university support or student fees. That is a rarity in this day and age. There are less than 20 institutions now I believe that are totally self-supporting. And add to that the fact that we are giving back over $3 million a year to the university. And we are very proud of that. Arkansans should be very proud of that. Razorback supporters should be very proud of that, because we are in rarified air. When you combine that with being in a small state population-wise, it’s really extraordinary what our fan base, our institution, is able to accomplish with Razorback athletics.

NWABJ: With the landscape of college sports shifting before our eyes, where do you see conferences, five, 10 years down the road?

JL: They are shifting in a couple of ways. At the conference level, that’s largely driven by the television dollars, or I should say the revenues from multimedia rights. As we look forward a few years out, it may not be television as we know it. It may just be online or some other way of distributing the games. That could be different. But it’s hard to know what the future is with that. I think it does go back to the College Football Playoff and whether that stays at four teams or evolves to eight. There’s a lot of things lining up at this time. And then the other piece is the litigation that’s still out there in a number of different forms. And that could change the face of intercollegiate athletics as we know it.

NWABJ: One hundred years from now, you’ll be the answer to a trivia question — who was the first chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee. You were, for all intents and purposes, the face of the college football playoff for its first two years. You’re still on the committee, but what’s one thing you will not miss about being chairman?

JL: Preparing for the media. That’s what made the job difficult. Being the chairman and sitting at the front of the room and leading that group of people was a huge honor. I get chills thinking about it still today. I enjoyed the experience. But the media prep and making sure that you position the group in the right way, every Tuesday night on ESPN, was a challenge. I had to make sure I represented the thoughts of the entire committee, not just my own views. And when you’re sitting there in the hot seat answering difficult questions, the tendency is to answer them how you see it. But you have to pause and remember that this was the collective decision of the committee. I spent a great deal of time trying to prepare for questions that never came, and felt unprepared for questions that you never thought would come.

NWABJ: Does the College Football Playoff format work with four teams?

JL: I think it does. I am a believer in the four teams because what it does is make every game in the regular season important. Every game in the regular season, in my view, is a playoff game. As a member of the committee, the opening weekend are all playoff games. Those games will go a long way in determining who is ultimately in that final four. If you go to eight or 12 or 16 teams, it dilutes that, and I think it does take the emphasis off the regular season. And also, I will tell you, that I am an advocate of the education piece. When you start playing games with eight teams and you move that schedule back into the academic year when the majority of institutions are doing final exams, that is not good for college athletics. I am a believer in four teams. Does that mean it might change in the future at some point? It’s likely to.

NWABJ: Do you think the SEC can or should expand?

JL: The SEC is poised to react to what happens. I don’t think that we will be a group of institutions that will be seeking others, but depending on what happens, we may have others. Just like last time with Missouri and Texas A&M. They came to us. We are poised and prepared for what may happen. And we will be ready to react if things should dictate.

NWABJ: One of the big discussions in college sports is whether players should be paid. Do you think that athletes should be compensated other than what they’re getting now in stipends and scholarships?

JL: I think the question is should athletes be paid more. Tuition, room and board, books and fees and now scholarships up to cost of attendance; that is the compensation for what they do on the field. Again, many people look at it differently. We are in the education business, and that is why we are tied to a university. I just got back from Spain, where athletics isn’t tied to a university. It’s a very different model with club sports, and in some club sports, only those who can afford to pay get to play. Our system is unique, and it does have unique challenges to it as well. But what is exciting is, and the reason I am still engaged at this level, is we’re still part of the educational process. We are the University of Arkansas. Our number one goal with our student-athletes when they walk in the door is the message of beginning with the end in mind. The degree is the end. I am passionate about that. That’s why I am in this business. That’s what drove me to be in college athletics is because of what athletics gets to do for young people. Many of them may not have the opportunity to get an education, and we’re doing better and better and better in that regard. There was a time 15 or 20 years ago we didn’t do a very good job of that, collectively. Now we are doing great things for young people, and that’s why I am so excited about what we do here at the University of Arkansas.

NWABJ: Should anything be done about the escalating arms race in pay for football and basketball coaches?

JL: There’s nothing we can do. We have a free market and coaches have the opportunity to move, and as long as they do, if you’re going to compete, you’re going to compete in salaries. Some people say we should cap salaries. We can’t. That’s called restraint of trade, and we’d have lawsuits all over the place. We have to balance it, but the message I hear from Razorback fans across the state is we want to compete. And if we’re going to compete, we’re going to have to pay some salaries to coaches in order to compete. We’re financially strong, and we can afford those salaries. But we have to be cautious.

NWABJ: Another issue that has been in the news too much lately is the handling of assault and sexual assault complaints against athletes. Tennessee and Baylor have made the most headlines, and also this summer Mississippi State raised some eyebrows for admitting a high-profile football recruit, even though he was shown on video punching a woman several times during a fight in March. If that had been an Arkansas recruit, would he have been admitted to the university?

JL: That’s a difficult question to answer simply because I don’t have all the facts that Mississippi State does, so I won’t sit here and judge them. But what I will say is I think that our fans have seen our commitment to our young people. We’ve seen our coaches’ and administrators’ commitment to young people doing things the right way. They are young people, they do make mistakes from time to time. We do believe in second chances; however, depending on the circumstances, they may not get a second chance at this university. We talk to our young people as we recruit them, and when they are here, they have a responsibility. To themselves, their program, the athletic department, this university. And here in this state, you have an obligation to the state because people identify with the Razorbacks across the state. It’s a huge responsibility to bear, and they are 18- to 22-year-olds. And people do make mistakes. But we will make sure we understand the issues, and we want to protect the safety of all the students on our campus because that is important.

NWABJ: Your contract expires in June 2020. Have you given much thought to your future with the program, how long you want to stay and how much you want to accomplish?

JL: I never think in terms of legacy. I am excited every day to come to work with this group of coaches, this staff we have put together and the young people in our program. I think when I am no longer excited about the new group of freshmen coming in, excited about those seniors that have great athletic careers and then graduate, when I lose that enthusiasm, I think that will send the message to me that it’s time to step away, because these jobs are grueling. They are more than a job, they are a lifestyle. They are 24/7/365. They just are. If it’s a job to you, it will eat you up and spit you out. But if it’s a way of life and are enthused to be a part of this, like I am every day, then it’s not a job. You don’t work a day in your life.

NWABJ: There’s no secret how important football is to the overall health of an athletic department: How would you evaluate where the football program is? You’ve won bowls the last two seasons, but maybe it’s a little unfulfilled with some head-scratching losses mixed in there. With Coach (Bret) Bielema going into his fourth season, how would you assess where the football program is right now?

JL: I can tell you this. I love going to work every day with Bret Bielema. Because of the kind of person he is, the kind of coach he is. What he believes in. Bret has a big heart, but he has discipline and accountability in his program. Every one of his players will call him a players’ coach, but I’ll tell you that he is a players’ coach with discipline and accountability. And that is what means so much to an athletic director. Bret is building it the right way. When we hired him, the message was do it the right way. We’re not cutting corners, and there’s going to be incredible pressure to do just that in the SEC, in the SEC West. But we are not going to do that here. And when we are successful, it’s going to be that much sweeter because we have done things the right way. I couldn’t be more pleased with Coach Bielema and his coaches and the program. The GPA, 2.9, is unheard of in college athletics. The entire athletic department GPA is 3.2, and a big part of that is football, because they have so many in their program. Arkansans and Razorback fans have a lot to be proud of in our program and the way it’s being built.

NWABJ: If you were just a regular fan, who would be your favorite Razorback football player in your tenure at Arkansas?

JL: Oh gosh there have been a number of them. In some ways, Casey Dick. He had a tough situation coming in. And I think about that team that was here, that group of seniors, Tyler Wilson and all of them when Coach Petrino had his issue. I think about guys like Brooks Ellis right now. The Allen brothers. I love Deatrich Wise. Gosh if I could just go down the list, there are many, many football players I think a lot of. Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins. I think of Jake Bequette. Great young guy. We’ve had some great young men. And we’ll continue to have great young men in that program.

NWABJ: You accompanied the men’s basketball team on its summer trip to Spain recently. Ever been to Spain before?

JL: I had never been to Spain, and we had an incredible time.

NWABJ: Aside from the basketball (and three wins in four games), what was the highlight of the trip?

JL: The educational piece of what we did. I did a foreign tour early in my career, and I have such great appreciation for Mike Anderson and his staff. At 18 to 22 years old, the players may not see the value of going to see the cathedrals or other historical places. Or trying Spanish food dishes. But Mike and his staff understand the education piece, they got them out to do these things. The easiest thing would be to just let them go and eat McDonald’s or Burger King or whatever we find over there, but Mike and his staff understood the educational value. Many of them will never have the chance to be in a foreign country. But to experience the people, experience the historic nature of being in a 12th century medieval town. Once we got those young people out there, they lit up. They enjoyed it. Yes, if we had left them alone they’d be back in their bed sleeping because that’s what young people do. But the education was incredible, and that goes back to the leadership of Mike Anderson and his staff. I was so impressed with that. And impressed with the young men. They engaged with the people and the culture, and they had fun. And they played good basketball while they were over there.

NWABJ: What else has kept you busy this summer?

JL: Well, I moved my home in Fayetteville, and that was a challenge. Whether you are moving 100 miles or a mile and a half like we did, that’s a chore. But we’re excited to be in our new home in Fayetteville. Summer comes fast and short. We close our financial books on June 30. Then there’s a couple weeks that we can get away. Then football media days are the third week of July, and we’re off and running again.

NWABJ: What are you most proud of in your tenure at Arkansas?

JL: No question our academic performance of our program. To go from 2.7-2.8 GPA to 3.23 is incredible. That is a culture change. That’s not just imploring kids to do better. We’ve changed the culture in terms of the expectations of the prospects we recruit, in terms of support. And quite honestly, we have invested in academic support of our young people. The culture has changed, and I think our coaches understand that. The ones who have been here for a long time have bought in, the new ones we have hired have gotten it because that is part of the hiring process. And again, I think some fans will say, ‘Well he talks about academics when the teams aren’t doing well.’ Well, that’s not true. We are incredibly proud of the change we have made because it allows young people to use this experience to better themselves and their families for the rest of their lives. It’s really a generational impact.

NWABJ: What’s one aspect of your job that no one knows about that you wish they did? 

JL: That this is more than just wins and losses on the field. It’s about education. Believe me, people sometimes misconstrue my message, and I want Razorback fans to know we’re going to compete with every fiber of our body to win games. There’s no question about that. I take exception with people who think you can’t be academically successful and athletically successful. I believe we can. I think we’ve showed that you can, and I think we will continue to do that. That’s one thing. The other thing is the fact that at this university, we don’t get university funds, we don’t get state tax dollars and we don’t get student fees. But that’s a message we have to continue to put out there because we do know that we have high salaries for coaches and such, and it would be difficult to face people when they raise those questions if we were taking money away from the university. And we’re not. In fact we’re sending $3 million plus back to campus. And as we are successful athletically, we’ll have the opportunity to send more back to campus. And that’s what makes us unique. I think there are less than 12 athletic programs in the country that are self-sufficient and give money back to campus.

NWABJ: For your fantasy dinner, what are you going to eat and what three people will be with you?

JL: I’ve always had a great respect for Abraham Lincoln. I think he was an extraordinary leader at an extraordinary time in our country’s history. He would be a remarkable man to visit with. On the other side, John F. Kennedy. And that’s covering both sides with Republicans and Democrats, but that wasn’t on purpose. The third one would be a sports figure, but I’m not sure which one. And I’m a pretty simple person when it comes to food, so we’d probably have pizza. I love pizza, and we might even have a beer. Local craft beer. One from Fayetteville and one from Little Rock.

NWABJ: For a potential coach you are considering hiring, what is one question you always ask?