Arkansas staff confident of interim AD

FAYETTEVILLE -- For the first time a woman is leading the Arkansas Razorbacks' athletic department.

Julie Cromer Peoples was appointed interim athletic director at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville by Chancellor Joe Steinmetz after Jeff Long's firing Wednesday.

Long's contract ran through June 30, 2022, and he could receive up to $4.625 million -- all of which is subject to mitigation depending on his future employment -- to be paid by the Razorback Foundation, Arkansas spokesman Mark Rushing said Thursday.

Long had been Arkansas' athletic director since January of 2008 and among his hires was Peoples, who has been a senior associate athletic director the last four years for…