Jeff Long Gone as KU AD

Stadium Network’s Brett McMurphy first reported on Twitter that Jeff Long has been removed from his post as the athletic director at Kansas.

Fox Sports reporter and The Athletic contributor Bruce Feldman retweeted McMurphy’s tweet as well, and KU beat reporter Matt Tait has also confirmed the news on Twitter. Tait also noted that “the state of donor relations” was the primary reason for Long’s ouster, which is eerily similar to how his tenure at Arkansas ended.

Sam Mellinger (KS Star) has reported that the athletic department staff has been informed the Long is no longer the AD.

EDIT: Jeff Long just released the following statement (click for link).

EDIT: Chancellor Girod released the following statement (click for link).

And there was much rejoicing in Mudville.

Girod’s statement indicates he will lead the search for a new AD, alongside a search firm and four alumni advisors (one of which is Wayne Simien). Girod’s plan is to hire an athletic director “within the next few weeks.” That person will then be tasked with addressing the head football coach position.

Per Twitter rumors, two replacement candidates have already been proposed by the Big Money Donors (BMDs) - Danny Manning and Banks Floodman. KU will most likely use a search committee to find the next AD, but this tweet will raise eyebrows:

Jeff Long’s tenure at KU has been marred by missteps, including his handling of the Beaty termination and settlement, declaring Gassnola a booster during the NCAA investigation, not having a handle on Snoop Dogg’s performance at Late Night, surrendering the Border Cold War to Missouri, apologizing for the brawl that K-State started (while the KSU administration stood back silently), and even calling Dairy Queen a “locally owned business.” And I haven’t even mentioned the Les Miles hiring process fiasco. He’s been a Twitter troll and an overall PR disaster, with yesterday’s press conference the cherry on top.

Since KU likely won’t be hiring a football coach for at least a month, who knows how this will affect that search, but for now, let’s just be glad that KU is, finally, apparently, getting rid of the chaff in the athletic department.