The Arkansas Razorbacks football program faced one of college football’s most controversial hiring scandals when Jessica Dorrell beat 158 other applicants for a position. A routine hiring decision soon spiraled into a complex web of impropriety with far-reaching effects.
Let’s get into how the Jessica Dorrell Arkansas saga played out. The story revealed a fast-tracked interview process and an extra-marital affair with then-head coach Bobby Petrino that continued “for a period of several months.” More shocking details emerged about their relationship. Petrino gave Dorrell a $20,000 gift before her hiring, and they exchanged more than 4,300 text messages over seven months. The case created collateral damage for all women working in college football, especially when you have the small number of operational and recruiting roles held by females.
The university reached a $14,000 settlement with Dorrell. The agreement blocked her from profiting through any association with Razorback Athletics. The story might seem familiar to some, but surprising elements of this scandal still deserve proper attention.
The Fast-Tracked Hiring of Jessica Dorrell
The story behind Jessica Dorrell’s hiring at Arkansas shows a process full of irregularities. A position for student-athlete development coordinator opened up in March 2012, offering an annual salary of nearly $56,000. What happened next strayed far from standard procedure.
How Dorrell was selected over 158 applicants
Bobby Petrino arranged Dorrell’s selection from a pool of 159 candidates. Records from university FOIA requests show that Dorrell submitted just a single-page resume for the position. She ended up as one of three finalists who interviewed for the role.
Notes from her interview praised her for having “the most overall experience of building relationships that the football program is looking for”. This praise came despite huge qualification gaps when compared to other finalists. After the interviews, Petrino told Athletic Director Jeff Long that Dorrell “approached him” about the job and he “thought she would be good”.
Affirmative action policy bypassed
Arkansas’ affirmative action policy normally required job openings to stay posted for at least 30 days before starting interviews. But Athletic Director Jeff Long sent a memo asking for an exception just five days after posting the job on March 4.
Carrie DeBriyn, human resources manager for Arkansas athletics, sent an email to the university’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance on March 12. The email stated: “Coach Petrino would like to ask to interview early due to needing a Player Development Coordinator as quickly as possible”. They justified this with concerns about “Fantasy Football Camp preparation” and potential “recruiting error with NCAA rules” if the position wasn’t filled quickly.
The request got approved in 47 minutes – yet records show Dorrell’s interviews were already scheduled to start at 9:30 that same morning. Long has publicly admitted that the school didn’t follow its normal affirmative action hiring policy.
Lack of football experience in her resume
The job posting clearly required “two years of prior experience within a football program” as a minimum qualification. A “master’s degree in related field” was also listed as preferred.
Dorrell’s resume had no football experience at all. She had played volleyball for Arkansas and worked as assistant director for women’s athletics at the Razorback Foundation. The other two finalists – Ben Wilkerson and Tiffany Fields – both brought football backgrounds and master’s degrees to the table.
Wilkerson’s experience included playing under Petrino during his brief time with the Atlanta Falcons. He was also a four-year starter at LSU. Notwithstanding that, Dorrell got the job on March 28, just days before her motorcycle accident with Petrino.
The Secret Relationship with Bobby Petrino
A secret relationship behind Jessica Dorrell’s controversial hiring brought down one of college football’s most successful coaches. Bobby Petrino’s lunch outing in October 2011 changed course when Dorrell asked “are you going to kiss me”.
Timeline of the affair
The relationship between 51-year-old Petrino and 25-year-old Dorrell spanned five months from September/October 2011 to February 2012. Their connection started earlier than that. Phone records showed they exchanged 326 phone calls and 7,228 text messages since April 2011.
The intensity of their messages was striking. They exchanged 91 texts in one day on September 13, 84 texts over five hours before a Vanderbilt game, and 70 texts during the Troy game day. Petrino made early morning calls to Dorrell at 5:49 a.m. He called her four straight days before the Alabama game.
The $20,000 gift and its implications
Petrino gave Dorrell a $20,000 cash gift before hiring her. Dorrell kept this money “under her mattress”. She bought a black Acura with these funds after getting her position with the football program.
This money created major issues for both of them. Athletic Director Jeff Long said this payment could make the university “vulnerable to sexual harassment” lawsuits. The transaction also broke university’s conflict of interest policies. Petrino never disclosed their relationship or the large gift while recommending Dorrell’s employment.
Motorcycle crash that exposed the truth
The truth came out on April 1, 2012. Petrino and Dorrell rode a motorcycle on a two-lane highway southeast of Fayetteville. The crash left Petrino with broken ribs, a cracked neck vertebra, and several scrapes and bruises.
Petrino claimed he was alone during the accident. The university’s statement on April 2 said the crash “involved no other individuals”. Petrino told reporters he spent the crash day with his wife at a nearby lake.
The police report released on April 5 revealed Dorrell was a passenger. Petrino finally told Long about their relationship and Dorrell’s presence during the accident just minutes before this information became public.
The Fallout: Paid Leave and Resignation
The University of Arkansas acted quickly to handle Jessica Dorrell’s employment status after the scandal came to light. The administration needed to tackle this complex situation carefully.
University places Dorrell on paid leave
University officials confirmed Jessica Dorrell received paid administrative leave. This decision followed Bobby Petrino’s termination on April 10, 2012. The university fired him because he misled officials about his relationship with Dorrell. University spokesman Steve Voorhies confirmed her leave status but provided no extra details since it was a personnel matter.
Dorrell’s annual salary reached approximately $55,735. Her employment package included four free tickets to each home football game and two free tickets to other sports’ home games. She had previously been engaged to Josh Morgan, who directed the athletic department’s swimming and diving operations.
Details of her resignation agreement
Dorrell officially stepped down from her role as student-athlete development coordinator on April 17, 2012. The resignation took effect right away. She received a settlement of $13,933.75, which matched three months of her salary exactly.
The Razorback Foundation handled the settlement payment instead of the university. The agreement stated Dorrell could not “attempt to sell or profit from her affiliation with Razorback Athletics”.
Athletic Director Jeff Long believed the resignation served everyone’s interests best. He explained: “While Ms. Dorrell had a legitimate right to apply for and accept a position within the football program, the circumstances surrounding the former coach’s decision to hire her compromised her ability to be effective in such a position”.
Why the position was not refilled
The university stated they had no plans to advertise the position again. The athletic department redistributed the student-athlete development coordinator duties among existing staff members.
This move eliminated Dorrell’s former role, which she held for less than a month before her leave. The university never explained publicly why they chose to spread these duties around rather than pick someone new from the original 159 applicants.
The Arkansas Settlement and Its Aftermath
The Petrino-Dorrell scandal ended with a carefully structured settlement agreement that helped both parties move past the controversy.
Terms of the $14,000 settlement
Jessica Dorrell received a settlement of $13,933.75, which matched her three-month salary. The Razorback Foundation provided these funds rather than taxpayers, according to Kevin Trainor, associate athletic director for public relations. The university agreed to pay this amount within two weeks after she resigned on April 17, 2012.
Athletic Director Jeff Long said the settlement served “the best interest of all parties involved”. The university’s spokesperson John Diamond clarified that this payment was part of Dorrell’s resignation agreement. The settlement resolved what officials called “all matters between the parties”.
Non-disclosure and non-profit clauses
The settlement included a detailed 13-page non-disclosure agreement that prevented Dorrell from making any public statements about the situation. The life-blood of her resignation agreement stated she could not “attempt to sell or profit from her affiliation with Razorback athletics”.
Dorrell agreed not to participate in any commercial activities that showed her university employment negatively. Without doubt, these rules aimed to shield the university athletics program from additional embarrassment.
Where is Jessica Dorrell today?
Dorrell left the University of Arkansas and moved to South Carolina. She found work with the South Carolina Association of School Administrators. This new role let her return to fundraising work, like her previous position at the Razorback Foundation before joining the football program.
The scandal did not stop her wedding plans. Dorrell and her then-fiancé Josh Morgan went ahead with their ceremony and ended up getting married on February 9, 2012. The wedding took place before the scandal became public, and the couple managed to keep their commitment despite media attention later.
Dorrell has stayed away from the public eye since these events.
Conclusion
The Jessica Dorrell-Bobby Petrino scandal at Arkansas stands as a warning about improper college athletics hiring practices. This piece shows how a qualified pool of 159 applicants lost out to someone with a personal connection to the head coach. It also revealed troubling details about a $20,000 gift, thousands of text messages, and how university policies were bypassed to make this appointment happen.
A motorcycle accident ended up exposing a web of lies that cost Petrino his job and led to Dorrell’s resignation. The university was quick to act, but questions linger about whether their $14,000 settlement dealt with the situation properly. Of course, the non-disclosure and non-profit clauses kept any future revelations from Dorrell quiet.
The most troubling part is how this case hurt opportunities for qualified women who wanted legitimate roles in college football programs. The impact went way beyond the reach and influence of those directly involved and changed how people viewed female professionals across college athletics.
Dorrell rebuilt her life quietly in South Carolina and went back to fundraising work like in her pre-scandal career. While her Arkansas story has ended, this controversy’s lessons still shape hiring practices and accountability measures at universities across the country.
This case reminds us that athletic success doesn’t justify cutting ethical corners. The scandal’s true cost exceeded the money paid out and damaged both the institution’s credibility and people’s careers.