Jessica Dorrell Texts Shed Light on Affair
In the wake of the Bobby Petrino scandal which revealed a relationship he was having with a 25-year-old University of Arkansas employee, new developments are surfacing which show extended communications between the pair over the past seven months.
According to reports, Arkansas Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino hired Jessica Dorrell, a former Razorbacks volleyball player, as the Student Athlete Development Coordinator. Her employment came only four days before the motorcycle accident which would shed light on a relationship kept secret for several months.
Messages and phone records were released under a Freedom of Information Act request and showed that there had been close to 300 phone calls as well as over 4,300 text messages that were sent between the two during that time period.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Included in the records were picture and video files, but there was no way to verify the content or nature of those files.
Petrino was relieved of his coaching duties for failing to disclose his relationship with Dorrell, whom he hired last month, never disclosing the conflict of interest or the fact he had given her $20,000.
Athletic director Jeff Long explained that he had figured their relationship had going on for a "significant" amount of time, but would not comment directly as to the exact amount of time.
Petrino did not report to Long that Dorrell had been with him on the motorcycle during the accident until right before the police report was released to the public.
Records show Petrino had a 6-minute call to Long at 3:11 p.m., during which it is speculated that he told Long of his inappropriate relationship with Dorrell.
The 51-year-old Petrino was scheduled to make an annual salary of $3.5 million and had built the football program at Arkansas into a national power. Over the past two seasons he led the team to a 21-5 record.
