First, the good news for John L. Smith: Even in the event his Razorbacks can't recover from their disastrous 1-3 start, his athletic director isn't going to fire him before the end of his first, and likely only season in charge.

"We’re committed to this season," Razorbacks AD Jeff Long told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as part of a Wednesday Q-and-A. "He’s going to lead our team through this season. That’s something we made a commitment to in April and we’re going to stand behind that commitment."

Here's the bad news for Smith: There's precious little from Long's comments that suggest Smith will stay in the position any longer than that.

"Coach Smith and I both said early on in this process when I hired him in April that it would be clear at the end of the season whether he was a candidate or not," Long said, per The Associated Press. "That's still the way I feel today.

At the end of the season, we'll know very clearly whether he's a candidate or not." 

But the rest of Long's comments make it sound as if the AD knows already. Asked whether he would accept the cold calls of other coaches inquiring about the Arkansas head job, Long admitted he wasn't even doing Smith the courtesy of hanging up until this season had finished.

"They can reach out to me and I would listen," Long said. "I’m not actively reaching out to them. It’s not an appropriate time to do that and there is plenty of time to do that at the end of the season."

By every appearance, that's exactly what Long intends to do once the season is over. Asked if it was "beneficial" to "have such a head start on the coaching search," Long made it clear the process of selecting the next Arkansas head coach has already begun.

"I think it’s a blessing and a curse because you have a lot of time to spend on a lot of background," he said. "Every week it changes with a win and a loss in another program. There is a broad pool of people and you’re looking a lot of people at this time … Where we are in the search, we’re doing background and doing research, just looking at who might be attractive for us, interested in us and who would be a good fit for us."

Please note the number of times Long even mentions Smith as a candidate in that search, which is zero. And please contrast that with the number of times in the Q-and-A Long describes Smith as "a coach who’s not your long-term coach," which is one.

There's plenty more in the Q-and-A, none of it encouraging for Smith's continued employment in Fayetteville. (Long is asked "Are you happy with how hiring Smith has played out?" and responds with a list of Smith's qualifications that got him the job in the first place, a classic non-answer that in itself provides an answer.)

The view from here: The handwriting isn't just on the wall for Smith, it's written in bright hot pink letters 10 feet high. If he doesn't produce one of the most remarkable in-season turnarounds in SEC history starting this Saturday against Texas A&M, it'll be time to start drawing up the mandatory "Who's next at Arkansas?" lists before the Hogs even hit midseason.

Here's a clip from CBS Sports Network's College Football Confidential: Arkansas airing this fall, in which Smith addresses the team after its loss to Rutgers last Saturday: