Arkansas’ athletic department bounced to the beat of Frank Broyles for decades. It was folksy, media-friendly, not exactly rigid in its meetings schedule. But things have changed since new Athletic Director Jeff Long took over for Broyles, 83, on Jan. 1. Long epitomizes today’s buttoneddown AD as CEO, bringing a decidedly corporate approach to athletic administration. There are plenty of meetings. Instead of fundraising, Long speaks of “mining revenue streams.”

The organizational structure, though the flow chart is still somewhat murky to the general public, promises to be much more rigid under Long, who also claims the title of vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics as part of the effort to blend athletics more into the general workings of the university.

Long formed his administrative philosophy during stops at Oklahoma, Michigan, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh before coming to Arkansas at one of the most critical junctures in the department’s history.

Broyles no longer occupies the positions of power he held for 50 years. Arkansas has a new football coach, Bobby Petrino, hired by Long after a one-man search last December. Getting Petrino wasn’t easy. He had to quit his job with the Atlanta Falcons with three games remaining, triggering a national media backlash against Petrino.

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Internally, the departments of men’s and women’s athletics, separated for decades, are now being blended under Long’s rule.

“I’m in the process of reorganizing and making changes in our program that fit my philosophy, my direction, my beliefs,” Long told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette earlier this summer. “I’m excited. We have new team members on board, and I’ve also enjoyed getting to know our existing team members.

“ The challenge is putting together two programs and getting the best people in the best spot to take our people forward.”

A tangible symbol of the merging of the departments will be Monday with the introduction of www. arkansasrazorbacks. com, a Web site that will accommodate all Razorbacks sports. Those logging into hogwired. com or ladybacks. com will be routed to the new site.

“I think it’s the first visible sign of our unified department,” said Kevin Trainor, UA associate athletic director for media relations and communications. “As we move forward with the brand of the Razorbacks, the Web site is a very important part of our message to our fans.

“ We have a very active online community and it’s important that we have a dynamic presence on the Web.”

Long-time Arkansas fans probably will need to study the staff directory in the 2008 football game program to match the names of all of Long’s new hires to their faces.

Chris Wyrick, hired from the University of South Carolina in March, is the new senior associate athletic director for external affairs.

Jon Fagg, brought in from North Carolina State, has the new title of senior associate athletic director for compliance and student-athlete services. In the May 1 departmental release announcing Fagg’s hiring, it mentioned Fagg will report directly to Long, but also that “the new position will have an informational reporting relationship on compliance issues with the University’s Office of the General Counsel,” another indication of the department’s positioning in the broader spectrum of university life.

Last month, Hot Springs native Matt Trantham was hired from the University of Oklahoma and announced as senior associate athletic director for internal operations.

Bill Gray, the right-hand man to Broyles for more than two decades, announced last month he was stepping down from his role as a senior member of the department, effective July 31.

The changes appear to be sweeping, but Long said he wouldn’t characterize them like that.

“I’m probably too close to it,” Long said.

In a previous interview Long mentioned he intended to work with an executive staff of from four to six senior-level administrators. That group would presumably include Bev Lewis, the executive associate athletic director, as well as Wyrick, Fagg, Trantham, and perhaps one or two others.

Beyond the senior-level administrators will be a second bunch.

“I call that group senior staff, which will include the executive staff members and a broader group of department heads and department leaders,” Long said. “There may be 12 to 14 that serve in that pool.”

In addition to the new administrative hires, as well as the transition at the very top with Chancellor Dave Gearhart replacing John White, there has been a series of coaching changes in the past year.

Basketball coaches John Pelphrey (men’s team ) and Tom Collen (women’s team ) completed their first seasons this spring. Long has already hired Petrino, replaced legendary men’s track and field coach John McDonnell with Chris Bucknam in June, and brought volleyball coach Robert Pulliza on board on July 11.

“You expect at this level to have some level of turnover every year, whether there’s a new AD or not,” Long said. “People will have other career choices, so you’re always going to have some turnover like that. There’s probably a little more now because of the newness and the change of organization.”