FAYETTEVILLE -- It would be a plus if the next executive director of the Razorback Foundation had Arkansas ties, Athletic Director Jeff Long said, but it's not a requirement.
"From my perspective, I'm looking for someone who will continue to make the Razorback Foundation and Razorback athletics a partnership," Long said Tuesday when he met with the media and spoke on a variety of topics. "We're going to raise more money together. We're going to do things better when we're together, and we've never been closer in history. That's the biggest thing.
"Now, being an Arkansan would certainly be a big bonus and something we're looking for, but I think we can't ignore fund-raising experience. We can't ignore capital fund-raising, major gift fund-raising, annual fund experience. That's important, too.
"Can we find a leader who is strong in all those areas? I hope so, but we're just beginning that process."
Long is on a search committee to find a new executive director along with Razorback Foundation board chairman Ken Mourton and board members Charles Balentine, Rick Chapman and Rick Massey.
Norm DeBriyn, who is retiring in January, was promoted Monday from associate director of the Razorback Foundation to interim executive director, replacing Sean Rochelle, who is resigning Tuesday to go into private business.
"We just finished a record-breaking year, and Sean Rochelle was a fabulous leader for us," Long said. "He worked very closely with athletics, and likewise, so we were very much a partnership. I think that's a key to it."
DeBriyn is the fifth executive director of the Razorback Foundation since Long became athletic director in January of 2008, but Long said he's not frustrated by the turnover.
"The foundation has changed and grown so much in the past eight years," Long said. "When Sean decided to leave, it's not a frustration. Sean had the opportunity to do something that he feels is in the best interest of his family. I get it."
A proposed seating expansion for the north end of Reynolds Razorback Stadium is among the projects awaiting the new Razorbacks Foundation executive director.
Long said construction is at least two years away.
"The next steps will be to see what the pricing would be for these suites and club seats and making sure we can generate the type of revenue that is needed to pay the debt, pay the bonds on the facilities, because it will take well over $100 million dollars in bonds to do that," Long said. "But we put ourselves in good position to take on that debt. Our debt is relatively low amongst our competitors.
"So I will be moving forward in an information mode with the president, the chancellor and the Board of Trustees for several months and we'll see if it does come to fruition. We certainly have done the planning, and I think we do have a need for it."
Long said Arkansas' new Jerry and Gene Jones Family Success Center will be dedicated Sept. 19 when the Razorbacks play Texas Tech in Fayetteville.
Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys owner who was a senior offensive lineman on Arkansas' 11-0 team 1964 that won a share of the national championship, donated $10.65 million for the 55,000-square foot building.
"This facility is just extraordinary," Long said. "We've gone to the top of the conference, and probably the nation, in providing a learning environment for our student-athletes. I'm so proud that Jerry's family has stepped up to support us in this way.
"It's the most important athletic facility on our campus, no question about it. It touches every student-athlete on a daily basis. It's a place they'll go to eat at our training table, do their academic preparation and tutorials, also engage in our leaderships training and our community service projects."
Arkansas finished No. 16 nationally in the Directors Cup standings, which tracks overall performances by a school's teams for the 2014-2015 school year, and Long said athletes in all sports combined for an all-time high 3.24 grade-point average.
"I'm thrilled about the year we're just coming off of," Long said. "I think we had probably the most outstanding year in Razorback history when you look at everything combined top to bottom."
Sports on 08/26/2015