Brady Hoke reached out to old friend Jeff Long after Arkansas AD fired Bobby Petrino

An internal investigation revealed Petrino and Durrell had an inappropriate relationship. Petrino also helped Durrell land a job in the football program and gave her a $20,000 gift.

"I texted him," Hoke said. "Just said, 'I'm glad I wasn't you.' That's a hard deal for anybody."

Hoke and Long go way back. They both attended Fairmont East High School in Kettering, Ohio, and were teammates on the football and baseball teams.

Long was the quarterback on the football team, and Hoke his center. They were battery mates in baseball, too, where Long was a pitcher and Hoke the catcher.

Hoke also delivered the news to Long.

"He was our paper boy,” Long told the Dayton Daily News. “He loves to tell people that when we’re together, and it’s true. He delivered the Dayton Journal-Herald.”

Their paths crossed again two decades later, when Hoke was hired as a Michigan football assistant in 1995. Long worked in the Wolverines' athletic department at the time.