FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long doesn't expect Arkansas' next track and field coach to duplicate John Mc-Donnell's success.

McDonnell announced Monday he will retire at the end of the outdoor season after 36 years and 42 national championships with the Razorbacks. McDonnell, 69, has won more national championships than all but four schools have won, in men's sports.

"The expectations for the next coach will be high," Long said. "I'll be honest, I don't have the expectations to win 42 national championships over the next 36 years."

Long said McDonnell did him a favor by announcing his retirement plans during the season because Long will be able to scout prospective replacements the rest of the year. Long said he had no "preset formula" for selecting Mc-Donnell's replacement but hopes to have one in place by this summer.

Whomever Long eventually chooses will have the enormous task of carrying on the winning legacy McDonnell established.

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"This program is not going to go backward," McDonnell said. "It's going to go forward. I'm not leaving Fayetteville. I'll be around to make sure [Long ] keeps it going. I'll haunt him."

The last line got a laugh at Mc-Donnell's retirement announcement, but his success will loom over the program and whomever is selected to replace him. Still, the Arkansas job is likely to be a popular target for many coaches.

Longtime Arkansas assistant Dick Booth said he was "definitely interested" in replacing McDonnell. Booth, 63, was a head coach for four years at Southwestern Louisiana from 1984-1988.

"I'd love to do that. I'd like to have a shot at it," said Booth, who has assisted McDonnell for 26 years. "Whatever happens happens in that regard.

" I'd love to see what I could do. I think I could turn this program around. Isn't that what a new coach says ?"

Junior jumper Nkosinza Balumbu, a team captain, said he hopes Booth is named McDonnell's replacement.

"I think that's the best choice, honestly," Balumbu said. "I'm sure there will be a lot of coaches interested, but there's not a lot of coaches as qualified as Coach Booth. When you look at the resumes, Coach Booth is the lead horse, by far.

" I'm sure there will be a lot of coaches interested, but I hope Jeff Long doesn't look too far outside the Razorback family. He's got the best next coach right here."

Long said he will conduct the coaching search himself with input from others, and he said he would rely on McDonnell's expertise and knowledge of the track and field community. Long, who hired football Coach Bobby Petrino in December, has never hired a track and field coach.

"This will be a highly soughtafter job," Long said. "It'll be a question of just making sure we get the right person. Certainly, [in ] John McDonnell there is no better person to help me find his successor."

Texas A&M Coach Pat Henry said the Arkansas job's most attractive quality is that it is synonymous with track and field. Henry coached against McDonnell as LSU's coach and won five men's national championships.

"The person who comes in has to be his own person," Henry said. "The John McDonnell era is over. It would be a great challenge for someone to make an impact at a place everyone looks at as track and field."