John L. Smith to Arkansas!

I didn’t know so many of you cared. I also didn’t know so many of you were happy to see me leave.

News this week that John L. Smith had landed the interim football coaching job at Arkansas received a mixed reaction in the land of the Razorback. Smith takes over for Bobby Petrino, whose slippery personal life returned to haunt him despite his success on the field. Smith signed a 10-month, $880,000 contract with Arkansas.

Reaction to the story included my receiving numerous emails and phone calls from readers who enjoyed teasing me about the job offer. They were polite enough not to mention that the other John L. Smith’s paycheck is a helluva lot larger than mine.

Here’s a small sample of the mail:

From reader Rocky, "Good luck at Arkansas.  Hope the local paper has a better sports section than the RJ!"

Everyone’s a critic.

From Kendall Tenney, "I just read where you got the interim head coach job at Arkansas.  Congrats."

Everyone’s a comedian.

From Royce Feour, "Hope you can keep your R-J column."

Me, too. But then that’s my constant worry.

From Don Ham, "Got a new job, huh?"

No, still trying to figure out the old one.

Sorry, but you can't get rid of me that easily.