UA to search on two fronts; I’m on ‘point’ for new coach, interim AD says

Arkansas interim athletics director Julie Cromer Peoples speaks at a news conference Friday, Nov. 24, 2017, at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville. Cromer Peoples announced the firing of football coach Bret Bielema following a 48-45 loss to Missouri.
Arkansas interim athletics director Julie Cromer Peoples speaks at a news conference Friday, Nov. 24, 2017, at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville. Cromer Peoples announced the firing of football coach Bret Bielema following a 48-45 loss to Missouri.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville is now searching for an athletic director and a head football coach.

Julie Cromer Peoples became Arkansas' interim athletic director Nov. 15 after Jeff Long was fired, and defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads became the interim football coach when Bret Bielema was informed by Cromer Peoples he was fired Friday moments after Missouri's 48-45 victory over the Razorbacks.

"I think it is relatively unprecedented, but these are the circumstances we find ourselves," Cromer Peoples said. "So, we'll move forward and make sure that we find the best candidate for each position."

But how does a school run searches for an athletic director and football coach simultaneously when one is supposed to hire the other?

This is why Nebraska fired Shawn Eichorst as athletic director Sept. 21 and hired Bill Moos from Washington State on Oct. 15.

That timeline will allow Moos to hire a new coach after he presumably fires Mike Riley after the Cornhuskers lost to Iowa 56-14 Friday to finish 4-8.



But Cromer Peoples, who met with the media Friday night after Bielema was fired, doesn't see the simultaneous searches as an obstacle to hiring the Razorbacks' next coach.

"I think you need an AD, and we have one," said Cromer Peoples, referring to herself.

Arkansas Chancellor Joe Steinmetz has appointed a search committee to assist in finding a new athletic director, but he will make the hire.

"I'm confident we can find a great AD and a great football coach," Steinmetz said. "I've asked this question of colleagues, consultants and others -- yes, you can.

"Football coaches don't always need to know who their immediate boss is going to be right away. ADs that come in don't always have to be the one that hires the football coach."

Cromer Peoples said she's confident many high-level candidates will be interested in the Arkansas job, even if an athletic director hasn't been chosen.

"I firmly believe that all we have to offer -- including our history and our tradition, our facilities, our passionate fan base and our ability to compete in the nation's best conference -- will attract the interest of many top coaches across the country," she said. "Make no mistake, our goal and our focus has been and will always be to compete and win in the Southeastern Conference and nationally."

Cromer Peoples said Arkansas can provide what top coaches want.

"I do think that people on the market will be looking to find a job ... where they'll be supported," she said. "To find a job where football is important. Where there's a commitment to winning. Where the resources are there in order to have a competitive program.

"So I don't think we will have any problem having interest in this job. And I don't think we will have any problems moving forward in our search."

Cromer Peoples, who was promoted from associate athletic director to the interim position, said she will lead the search for a new coach and that there won't be a committee.

"We'll launch the coaching search this evening," she said. "I'll be working and running point on the coaching search.

"I've been fortunate over the last 20 years to build a network of people in the college athletics ranks and in football. I'll lean on that network as well as others I've gotten to know in my time here at Arkansas who particularly are interested in finding a coach who fits with our state and fits within our region."

Bielema came to Arkansas from Wisconsin and previously had coached at Iowa and Kansas State. He had no previous experience coaching in the SEC, but Cromer Peoples said hiring a coach with an SEC background isn't a must.

"Particularly at this point in the search, it's premature to try to limit to a subpool of a pool of coaches," she said. "What I'm looking for is somebody who can be successful in the Southeastern Conference.

Cromer Peoples shook her head "no" when asked whether there is a timetable for hiring a coach, but there is no time to waste given how many other high-level programs are looking for coaches and with the NCAA's early signing period of Dec. 20-22.

Arkansas is now one of four SEC schools that are conducting coaching searches along with Florida, Tennessee and Ole Miss. Texas A&M will fire Coach Kevin Sumlin after tonight's game at LSU, the Houston Chronicle reported.

UCLA and Oregon State also have openings, and Nebraska is expected to quickly join the list.

"I think there's no doubt that is has impacted all the searches that are already ongoing and the searches that will be announced in the coming days," Cromer Peoples said of the early signing date. "In fact, our own coaches were scheduled to go out and begin traveling tomorrow to begin the evaluation period that starts on Sunday.

"So the signing day is important, but the weeks leading up to it and the activities during those weeks are equally as important."

Cromer Peoples said firing Bielema immediately after the game allowed him to personally inform his players of the decision, but also means Arkansas could begin its search quickly.

"The market is active and it has been active," she said, "and it was important for us to get started as soon as possible in order to be a competitor within that market."

Steinmetz will be involved in the coaching search.

"I'll communicate with him throughout the process," Cromer Peoples said. "But his focus is on finding an athletic director for us. My focus will be on launching the football search and finding a football coach for us.

"I do feel that I've been given the authority to go find the best football coach for us."

Cromer Peoples said she'll meet with the football coaching staff at 10 a.m. today. She said Bielema at this point is the only coach who has been fired.

Cromer Peoples was asked whether she has a short list of candidates.

"I do recognize that this is a relatively short-lived role for me, we're 10 days in," she said. "But I think if you're in this role or in the role of a sport administrator in general, it's important to understand who is out there, who the coaches are and what the market is.

"I've done that. This is actually not the first football coaching search that I've been in involved in."

Cromer Peoples was an associate athletic director at Indiana University when Kevin Wilson was hired as the Hoosiers' coach in 2011. At the time Wilson was Oklahoma's offensive coordinator.

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Sports on 11/25/2017

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