The inevitable fallout from Bobby Petrino’s motorcycle crash, affair, and firing is taking place. Jessica Dorrell, the mistress on the back of his motorcycle when he crashed, is officially on paid leave from her position with the Arkansas football program.
Dorrell is the football program’s student-athlete development coordinator. She was selected over 158 other candidates and her hiring was announced the week before Petrino’s motorcycle crash. As if Petrino hiring his mistress over 158 others isn’t bad enough, he also gave her a $20,000 gift.
But wait, there’s more … 40/29 Sports in Fayetteville shows us just how much favoritism went on with Dorrell’s hiring. They say the two other finalists for the position were Benjamin Wilkerson and Tiffany Fields, both of whom had strong recommendations and seemed extremely qualified.
Wilkerson was a former All-SEC offensive lineman with LSU, and his references included Nick Saban, Les Miles, Jimbo Fisher, and Will Muschamp. He had experience working for LSU’s football program the past two seasons, and he even was a rookie on Bobby Petrino’s 2007 Falcons team.
Fields has two post-graduate degrees from Arkansas and has been a recruiting assistant for the football program since 2009. Her recommendations included two Arkansas football coaches and Bobby Petrino.
Despite their qualifications and experience, neither Wilkerson nor Fields got the job — that position went to Jessica Dorrell.
Ever feel like you missed out on job opportunities because someone was sleeping with the boss? Yeah, that’s exactly how Wilkerson and Fields must feel.
