The job opening for athletic director at Texas was certainly one full of worthy candidates in the rumor mill. The coveted position has been filled by former Arizona State AD Steve Patterson, in case you have not been paying attention today. Before that hire had been confirmed, there were some noteworthy names floating around as potential candidates, including Oliver Luck of West Virginia and Jeff Long of Arkansas.
Apparently this job search for Texas ended up making Long, a member of the College Football Playoff’s new selection committee, a bit wealthier as a result even though he did not get chosen for the job. According to Robbie Neiswanger of ArkansasNews.com, Long receive an incentive for removing himself from the pool of candidates for Texas.AD Jeff Long has received a $100K raise after taking name out of running for Texas job. He also will get another $100K raise on July 1, 2014
— Robbie Neiswanger (@NWARobbie) November 5, 2013
Long also gets a one-time payment of $100K. Long now would owe UA $1.3 million if he left for another job between now and July 30, 2015.
— Robbie Neiswanger (@NWARobbie) November 5, 2013
This all means Long will now be paid $1.1 million. Long officially removed himself from the job search on Monday.
“I’m not interested in listening to anybody about anything,” Long said Monday according to ArkansasNews.com. “This is my job. This is a job that I’m excited to lead and a program I’m excited to lead. And you know what, looking at what we’ve done the last five years, I’m very proud of that. I’m looking forward to continuing.”