Arkansas football head coach Bobby Petrino has been placed on administrative leave after it was discovered that a female employee was with him at the time of his motorcycle accident.

Jessica Dorrell, a 25-year old football program employee, was riding with Petrino during the time of his accident on Sunday.

Petrino did not initially tell Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long about Dorrell's presence. Long found out when the police report was released on Thursday. Petrino admitted to having a relationship with the woman, who is half his age, despite having a wife and four kids.

Long says this will be a long process, one that could end with Petrino's termination.

 "I'm at the beginning of the review. I don't know what I'm going to find. I am disappointed that coach Petrino did not share with me, when he had the opportunity to, the full extent of the accident and who was involved."

Long certainly has every right to investigate the accident. After all, Petrino did lie to his boss.

But Petrino shouldn't be fired for his actions.

The coach's actions certainly aren't admirable, but they are not a fireable offense either.

This is an issue between Petrino and his family, not Petrino and the Arkansas athletics department. If every athlete or coach was dismissed because of his infidelity, a lot of teams would have trouble putting together a full roster.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Petrino didn't mention that Dorrell was involved with the accident. A press conference is no place for the coach to announce that he's having an affair.

Once the information became public, Petrino release a statement, apologizing for his actions.

"I will fully cooperate with the university throughout this process and my hope is to repair my relationships with my family, my athletic director, the Razorback Nation and remain the head coach of the Razorbacks."

As far as I'm concerned, the coach's relationship with the fans should be fine. He didn't cheat on Razorback Nation.

As fans, we expect sports personalities to be perfect. Ideally, they would all be people to look up to.

Unfortunately, Charles Barkley was right. Athletes, and coaches alike, aren't role models. They are regular people who have flaws like everyone else.

As far as we know, Petrino didn't do anything against the law. That's the only thing that should matter. The Arkansas athletic department shouldn't judge Petrino on how he lives his life.

Petrino's done an excellent job at Arkansas, going 34-17 in his tenure. He should be given a chance to continue having success.

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