Arkansas’ Smith bankruptcy shows $25.7M debt
LITTLE ROCK—Arkansas coach John L. Smith is trying to wipe away $25.7 million in debt in bankruptcy court and hang onto $1.2 million in retire- ment accounts and some personal property, all while he leads the Razorbacks through one of the strangest seasons in team history.
Smith, who loudly implored reporters to “smile” at a press conference this week, has a meeting with a long list of credi- tors at U.S. Bankruptcy court in Fayetteville on Oct. 12, the day before the Razorbacks host Kentucky.
Smith was coaching Louisville when he began investing in real estate, which he has said, was profitable until land values took a nosedive. Smith filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Sept. 6, and court papers filed Wednesday detail the depth of his financial losses. As of the filing, Smith had received $115,000 from his 10month, $850,000 contract with Arkansas, plus $35,643 from his alma mater, Weber State, which he left before coaching a game to return to Fayetteville after Bobby Petrino’s firing. He also picked up $9,810 from Nike and $1,057 from a football camp, according to the court documents.
Smith has two retirement accounts, each worth about $600,000, which his filing lists as exempt from liquidation, along with household furnishings.
The filing lists 26 unsecured creditors, with the largest debt—$20 million—claimed by Terra Springs LLC of Louisville. Other debts include $2 million to Republic Bank and $902,000 to King Southern Bank, both in Louisville. He also owes about $10,000 to American Express.
Smith paid $20,000 up front to his attorney, Jill Jacoway of Fayetteville. She wasn’t in her office Thursday and didn’t immediately respond to email requests for comment.
Once the Chapter 7 proceeding is complete, Smith will be released from the debts, assuming there are no ensuing complications. Smith revealed his financial problems to The Associated Press during the summer, saying he anticipated a bankruptcy filing and that he didn’t want it to distract the team or embarrass the university. Athletic director Jeff Long said at the time that Smith was candid about his debt situation in talks before he was hired.
Since declaring bankruptcy on Sept. 6, then-No. 8 Arkansas lost in overtime to LouisianaMonroe, 34-31, and was shutout by No. 1 Alabama, 52-0. Starting quarterback Tyler Wilson was knocked out of the LouisianaMonroe game with a head injury and other key players have been sidelined by injuries.
All this followed Petrino’s April 1 motorcycle crash, which led to revelations he had his 25year-old mistress on the back of the bike and that he’d hired her for an on-campus recruiting job. Long fired Petrino 10 days after the accident.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—Even now, John L. Smith refuses to let go of his infectious smile.
He is $25 million in debt, his one-year tryout season is off to a disastrous start and he is living in the shadow of Bobby Petrino’s success. It might be too much for some. Not Smith.
The Arkansas coach has come under fire from fans and media alike in recent weeks. The radio and Internet-driven siege started after the unthinkable loss to Louisiana-Monroe, and the catcalls for Smith’s job could be heard echoing throughout Razorback Stadium a week later during a crushing 52-0 loss to No. 1 Alabama.
That Smith was hired on an interim basis to replace the fired and disgraced Petrino has done little to hold back those frustrated and flat-out angry by the Razorbacks’ fall out of the polls from No. 8. The critics don’t want to hear about injuries; they want the 21 wins Petrino brought to the table over the last two seasons.
Every move Smith has made, every word he’s uttered, has been dissected.
On Monday, two days following the loss to the Crimson Tide, Smith began his weekly news conference with a bit of his usual humor. The former
Michigan State and Louisville coach didn’t like the negative energy and funeral-like atmosphere from the gathered crowd, so he offered up his best pep talk.
“Ready? Get your chin up,” Smith said. “Smile. Smile! OK? Dang, you guys ... If not, I’m not talking!”
The banter is nothing new for Smith, whose engaging personality is nothing like that of Petrino. In fact, the only noticeable recent difference in the 63year-old Smith from earlier in the season has been the addition of a tie to his wardrobe—a bit of sophistication that suddenly appeared on the cowboy-boot wearing coach following the loss to Louisiana-Monroe.
What was very much the same Monday was Smith’s tongue-incheek grin during his opening remarks—comments many took to mean he wasn’t taking the two losses seriously enough.
The backlash was so prevalent that Smith addressed the issue during his weekly radio show Wednesday night.
“If somebody in the media or the fans out there would ever misconstrue that about not being serious about the game, then they don’t know us very well, do they?” Smith said, looking back at Arkansas running back Ronnie Wingo and linebacker Matt Marshall. “Football is our life. Winning is our life. So, to misconstrue trying to be positive, trying to exude a little positive energy to not caring or not being serious? Whoever they are, those people are sadly, sadly mistaken.”
Smith’s went on to explain to his listeners and those at the Catfish Hole restaurant that he believes in positive language and that negative body language “exudes nothing but defeat.”
“Why would I walk into a press conference and say, ‘Nick Saban just ripped my heart out?’’” Smith said of the Alabama coach. “Even though you feel that, you’re not going to say that. You’re not going to act like that. You’re not going to show that.”
If Smith wanted to succumb to the negative, he’s had plenty come his way since taking the Arkansas job in April under a 10-month, $850,000 contract. He recently filed for bankruptcy as a result of bad land deals in Kentucky, and a filing this week showed he has debts of more than $25 million against assets of just over $1.2 million.