Just like there was one Bear Bryant and one John Wooden, there will only be one John McDonnell.

It's safe to say no track and field coach will come close to duplicating his records of 42 national titles and 83 conference championships in our lifetimes if ever.

But that does not mean there is no pressure on first-year Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long in hiring McDonnell's successor.

One wonders if any CEO in America has had to make as many sea-change decisions during the first six months on the job.

Long, of course, hired Bobby Petrino as the Hogs' head football coach last December before he " officially" took over the job as athletics director.

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Not only is he in the process of hiring a men's track and field coach but he is also looking for a replacement for Chris Poole, who left the Lady Razorbacks' volleyball program after more than a decade on the job to become the head coach at Florida State.

Long has also been overseeing the merger of Arkansas men's and women's athletics programs into one entity as well as conducting the more normal and mundane practices of hiring, promoting and accepting of resignations that comes along with steering a major college athletics program.

In one sense, all this change allows Long to set a firm direction from the start for where he wishes to lead the program. But, hiring head coaches is stressful work. Making so many moves before his feet are firmly grounded in the Natural State's soil can be an uneasy proposition.

Though Long's position carries considerable weight and graces him with a degree of respect, he has not be on the job long enough to merit unquestioned clout. Even though the hiring of Petrino brought a national media thunderstorm with him, it was a coup for Long and the UA.

No matter whether his eventual hire of the UA's new track and field coach is ultimately deemed a success or a failure, it probably won't be considered a defining moment for Long as the UA's AD, unless the new coach turns out to be as successful as McDonnell. ADs are judged on their ability to raise and generate funds and on the hiring of head football and basketball coaches. But, the hire is a pivotal decision for the future of the UA track program.

While track and field and cross country are not revenue producers at Arkansas - or any other university - no sports have brought more honor to the UA and no outgoing UA coach has garnered as much respect and admiration as McDonnell since Broyles retired as Arkansas' head football coach after the 1976 season.

Like some of the members of the UA track team, McDonnell has endorsed his longtime assistant Dick Booth for the job.

They and others feel Booth deserves a shot at heading up the program not just because of his loyalty, but also because of the success his jumpers and throwers have achieved over the years.

Arkansas built its dynasty not only on talent and depth in the distance and middle distance races, but also the field events, which Booth has expertly guided.

To many, Booth seems to be the perfect coach to guide the program during this period of transition. He's not John McDonnell, but he no doubt knows his former boss inside and out. He has also had head coaching experience at Southwestern Louisiana (1984-88 ).

Booth is a master of motivation and there is not a better technician coaching jumpers in collegiate track and field. No other program can compete with the number of quality long and triple jumpers Arkansas has produced over the last quarter of a century.

However, at 63, Booth would probably not be a long-term hire, which could very well be one of Long's chief desires for the Razorbacks' next head coach.

Booth would also represent ties to the UA's past, which might also be something that Long wants to avoid as he guides the Razorbacks athletics program into the future.

Regardless of his criteria for Arkansas' next track and field head coach, Long deserves the authority to make his own decision. He is ultimately the one who will have to deal with the result.

Terry J. Wood is the sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.