Long fired as Kansas athletic director

Kansas has fired Athletic Director Jeff Long less than two days after mutually parting with Les Miles amid sexual misconduct allegations dating to the football coach’s time at LSU, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Kurt Watson will serve as the interim athletic director as the school begins searching for both a new AD and new football coach, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Long’s dismissal came one day after he vowed to lead the search for Miles’ successor, a move that drew significant backlash from Kansas alumni. It was Long who had hired Miles, his friend of more than 30 years, despite questions that ultimately led to his firing Monday night.

The move also comes as the Jayhawks’ storied men’s basketball program, which is awaiting the decision of an independent arbitrator on what could be severe NCAA sanctions for rules violations, prepares to open the Big 12 Tournament today with the NCAA Tournament on tap next week.

“You know, I focus on these student-athletes,” Long said Tuesday. “I got into these intercollegiate athletics for what they did for me. I know how important this experience is for a football player or a rower or a tennis player. … I have continued to work in their best interests. That’s the way I look at that.”

One day later, Long was fired from his second consecutive job leading a Division I athletic department. He was let go by the University of Arkansas in 2017 after a tenure that included the scandal surrounding the firing of football coach Bobby Petrino.

Long