John White Hires $2 Million Consultant

UA Chancellor John White, 68, said he has hired Frank Broyles, 83, as a consultant to advise him about Razorback athletics. Broyles has been given the title of Athletic Director Emeritus, along with a seven-year $2 million contract paying at least $286,280 a year in salary, plus benefits and expenses. The agreement contains a clause that payments to Broyles would cease if Broyles were to die before the seven years were up.

White is known for frittering away millions on coaches who resign, but Broyles’ multi-million dollar contract as a consultant raises even more serious issues. The NCAA Constitution Article 6, Sec. 6.1.1. requires that the Chancellor have ultimate responsibility and final authority for the conduct of the intercollegiate athletics program. The cozy relationship suggested by the $2 million consulting contract with Athletic Director Emeritus Broyles calls into question White’s commitment to institutional control of athletics, that fundamental requirement for development and review of athletic policies by the University Chancellor, the Faculty Senate and the Faculty Athletics Representative that is absolutely essential to the integrity of intercollegiate athletics.

Chancellor White once proclaimed that “in the South, athletics are king, and that's just a fact." Such an attitude, combined with the absence of any “due diligence” requirements in executing the NCAA certification documents and reliance on the paid advice from a former athletic director who is neither an administrator nor faculty member of the University, presents a glaring failure in the chain of “institutional control.”