NEW ORLEANS — Jeff Long got his man and Mike Anderson got his dream job.
It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
Understand that Long has conducted the Arkansas Razorbacks’ coaching search by the letter of the law.
When you are dealing with curators, which is what Missouri has instead of a rough and tumble BOT (board of trustees), you don’t take contracts lightly.
Mike Anderson couldn’t afford to, and neither could Long and the UA.
Mizzou had done a good job of locking up Anderson two years ago, just not a perfect job.
Long, though, sat back and worked within the system, letting it come to him. He wasn’t trying to upset Missouri, but make Arkansas happy.
He let the curators have their regularly scheduled meetings Monday and Tuesday, and when it appeared Anderson - who by his contract could not talk to any person about another job - hadn’t signed an extension, Long made his move.
He called Missouri’s athletic department a few times, and when he didn’t geta call back he sent an e-mail, which didn’t bounce back.
Notification of intent was made.
No one knows, but Long also probably made contact with Anderson’s agent, Jimmy Sexton.
Only after Long let Missouri put together its absolute best deal in a negotiation that began weeks ago, and if it had been enough to make Anderson happy, it would have stopped there.
MU people may never understand this, but coming back to the UA is probably more than a job change for Anderson, it is a homecoming with lots of wounds healed.
He wasn’t interested in Georgia, Alabama, Auburn or even Oregon.
He knows what it was like when the Razorbacks basketball program rode roughshod through the SEC.
When the Hogs would double dog dare the big boys to give them a shot.
Anderson knows. He was part of it. A big part.
He was Nolan Richardson’s top assistant. Anderson recruited, taught and tutored Hawgball.
Anderson was part of the lows and all the highs, and he knows what 40 minutes of hell means to the school and the state.
Nine years ago when Richardson was dismissed, Anderson was not a proven commodity.
Today he is, having won at Alabama-Birmingham and Missouri.
Not for one second does that mean Arkansas fans can expect a Final Four in the next three or four years. That’s not fair to the players, the coaches or anyone else.
Expectations will be high enough, but no one’s expectations will exceed those of Anderson, who was there on the Razorbacks’ bench when the national championship was won.
He may have grown up in Birmingham, Ala., but Fayetteville has been his home for the biggest part of his adult life. It’s where he raised his children and where his best friend, and his wife’s best friend, lives today.
No doubt there will be some resistance to Anderson. It is a fact that Richardson sued the UA, but while Anderson uses much of Richardson’s defense in his approach to coaching, he is still Mike Anderson, not Nolan Richardson.
Anderson should never be remembered as the assistant again.
He’s the head coach.
He’s earned the right to live in the limelight and not in the shadow.
He is his own man, one who has undying respect and admiration for his mentor Nolan Richardson but is still his own man.
The wait is over, Mike Anderson and his family have a homecoming all their own.
Sports, Pages 19 on 03/24/2011