Arkansas Razorbacks Football Coach John L. Smith's $40 Million Mistake

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Arkansas Razorbacks Football Coach John L. Smith's $40 Million Mistake

by Mark Friedman on Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 12:00 am

Beth Hall

First-year Arkansas head football coach John L. Smith has seen challenges off the field as well as on.

Mark Friedman

John L. Smith’s investment group created the Poplar Woods subdivision in 2007. Only a handful of homes have been built at the site.

Mark Friedman

Residents and guests are reminded to “Have a Nice Day” as they leave the Poplar Woods division. Homes start at $650,000, but only a handful of lots have been sold.

Mark Friedman

Poplar Woods failed to attract many buyers.

Mark Friedman

Lots are still for sale at Poplar Woods.

Mark Friedman

The abandoned offices of Canfield Development Co. in Louisville, Ky., as they appeared Oct. 15. The offices also were used as the headquarters for several of the limited liability companies that John L. Smith and others invested in with Canfield Development’s owner, R. Stephen Canfield.

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Away from the courthouse, Smith received some good fortune in 2012.

At the end of the Razorbacks 2011 season, Smith accepted a job as the head coach of his alma mater, Weber State in Utah, where he would make $130,000 annually according to the Salt Lake City Tribune.

As Smith was preparing for the 2012 season, Arkansas Razorbacks Head Coach Bobby Petrino was involved in an April 1 motorcycle accident with a woman on his football staff. After an investigation into the incident and the circumstances surrounding the woman’s hiring, Petrino was fired.

Smith agreed to abandon Weber State for a one-season contract as the Razorbacks’ head coach. Smith told the AP in July that he revealed his financial troubles to Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long before he was hired.

Smith told the AP that he wasn’t embarrassed about the financial mess he was in.

“It’s something that’s happened,” Smith told the AP. “I made some mistakes, and to be honest with you, I’m a football coach, not a businessman.”