Not knowing when Deloss was going to retire there were always unofficial discussions as to whom would replace him. A plan was actually put in place in the mid 80s to groom one of our own, but it became obvious that Deloss was going nowhere any time soon.
One of the two people that were later talked about the most were Long when he was at Arkansas and Jim Livengood. Doing business in XNA. I had the opportunity to meet several Arkansas alums, which included meeting Long at Herman's a few times. Coming from Ohio, being a yankee, he seemed like an unlikely fit in Washington County. Bad football hires doomed him at Arkansas. Just as ND changed Lou Holtz forever, the last few years in Fayetteville seem to totally change Long.
Jim Livengood at Arizona actually turned down the AD position at Michigan, and although not confirmed there were rumors he turned down UCLA. He was considered the best candidate in the country until he hired John Mackovic, leading to his career going in the toilet.
A good AD reminds me of the infamous line from Meat Loaf,
"You never find gold on a sandy beach
You'll never drill for oil on a city street
I know you're looking for a ruby in a mountain of rocks
But there ain't no coupe de ville hidin at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box"
There are zero good ones out there. We have hit gold twice, we need to keep CDC really happy.
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Last edited: Apr 18, 2020