ArkansasSports360.com: John L. Smith To Be Announced as New Arkansas Coach

Today on ArkansasSports360.com:

• Arkansas athletic director will announce at 2 pm Tuesday the hiring of John L. Smith as the 31st head football coach of the Razorbacks. Smith was an assistant under Bobby Petrino for the past three years after having mentored his future boss years before at Louisville.

• Jim Harris says Smith’s hire is the perfect solution to an imperfect problem. Bobby Petrino, whose April Fool’s Day motorcycle crash put Arkansas into this problem, calls Smith’s promotion "a great hire."

What else is being said about Smith’s hire? As you can imagine, the national reaction to the news has been mixed.

• The best illustration of what is happening on The Hill can be found in Smith’s contract. The new coach will stand to make $850,000 a year, have a 10-month contract and must retain his assistants with Long holding the only authority to hire and fire coaches.

• Mike Anderson, you are now the highest-paid state employee in Arkansas. No pressure or anything.