and Dorrell's relationship was an open secret in the football office. Petrino frequently sent Dorrell gifts, including a previously undisclosed $20,000 cash gift as a Christmas present. Dorrell used the money to help buy a new car. It was also revealed that Dorrell may have received preferential treatment in her hiring on the football staff, as Petrino's relationship with Dorrell was not disclosed and Petrino was on the hiring committee. Long determined that Petrino's attempts to mislead both him and the public about the accident and his relationship with Dorrell were grounds to fire Petrino for cause. In his formal termination letter to Petrino, Long said that he would have never allowed Dorrell's hiring had Petrino disclosed his relationship with Dorrell, and concluded that this and other lies on Petrino's part were "contrary to the character and responsibilities" of his post, and "negatively and adversely affected the reputation of the University of Arkansas within the State of Arkansas and on a national level." Long also determined that the $20,000 payment could expose Arkansas to a sexual harassment suit if Petrino were retained. In the course of hiring Dorrell, according to Sports Illustrated, Petrino also circumvented university affirmative action guidelines requiring job postings to be listed for 30 days before interviews could begin. He claimed that he needed an assistant to help him with recruiting right away, allowing him to interview and hire Dorrell 16 days after the job was posted. Dorrell was also the only candidate with no previous experience in a football program, and the only candidate without a master's degree. Petrino was succeeded by his former boss, Smith, who had been the Arkansas special teams coach before briefly taking the head coaching job at Weber State. On December 4, Bret Bielema was named Smith's successor. Public apologies In July, Petrino contacted Smith and members of his former team, including quarterback Tyler Wilson, who said the outreach provided "a little closure." Running back Knile Davis said, "He apologized. He said, 'I'm sorry for everything that happened.' ... He was very humble. He was very hurt. I told him not to be so hard on himself. I told him, 'You made a mistake. You'll get back from it.'" Smith's phone call with Petrino was "basically about our football team at Arkansas, of which he's always concerned about" [sic] In August 2012, Petrino sat down for a video interview with ESPN