Arkansas head coach Petrino reacts against Kansas State during the Cotton Bowl Classic football game in Arlington, Texas
Arkansas Razorbacks football coach Bobby Petrino was fired on Tuesday Reuters

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino was fired on Tuesday after knowingly lying to school officials about his relationship with Jessica Dorrell and her involvement in a motorcycle wreck, according to reports.

A press conference has quickly been put together at Bud Walton Arena and a live stream of the conference is available here. Athletic director Jeff Long is expected to explain the decision to fire Petrino after a successful career at Arkansas.

ESPN's Joe Schad first reported that Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long decided to dismiss Petrino after knowing deceiving and acting inappropriate in the hiring of Dorrell, a 25-year-old former Arkansas volleyball player, as a student-athlete development coordinator for the football program. Dorrell had been working as a fundraiser for the Razorbacks Foundation before being promoted on March 28th to a position within the football program.

It was the decision to promote his mistress to that position - one for a state school - that ultimately doomed him, according to Schad.

One report, via Scout's Arkansas website, stated that Petrino was offered an opportunity to stay as head coach with penalties for his digressions, but he rejected those penalties and was fired.

Petrino had been place on paid administrative leave last Thursday after admitting he wasn't completely forthright in his description of his April 1st motorcycle accident. At the time Petrino and the school announced that he was the only one involved in an accident that resulted in broken ribs and cracked vertebrae for the football coach. He told police and his school that a lady flagged down another driver to get medical attention for him.

But a police report released last Thursday indicated that Petrino was actually riding the motorcycle with the 25-year-old Dorrell, an attractive blonde Arkansas athletic department staffer.

The 51-year-old Petrino signed a seven-year contract in 2010 worth $3.53 million annually. He had a 21-5 record over the last two years at Arkansas and had the Razorbacks primed for one of their best seasons in decades next year.

Linebackers coach Taver Johnson has been placed in charge of the program in the interim basis.

ESPN+