Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Bobby Petrino endorses his replacement at Arkansas.

Petrino, speaking through his agent, called John L. Smith a “great hire.” Smith, who spent three seasons on the Arkansas staff under Petrino, will be introduced as the Razorbacks coach today at 2 p.m.

Smith will replace Petrino, who was fired April 10 for a violation of his conract. Smith left the Arkansas program in December to take the head coaching position at Weber State.

Here’s Petrino’s statement:

I think Jeff Long made a great hire. While there were several outstanding internal candidates, John L. brings a lot of head coaching experience to the table that will help Arkansas transition. He will unify the staff, the team and the Razorback fan base. I wish Coach Smith, his staff and the Arkansas football team the very best.

Smith was on the Arkansas staff from 2009-11. He was worked with eight of nine assistant coaches on the Razorback staff, icluding offensive coordinator Paul Petrino and defensive coordintor Paul Haynes.