Jeff Long used the word review 18 times during his Thursday press conference.

That’s what the Arkansas athletic director has been in the middle of since news broke late last week that football coach Bobby Petrino withheld information about his April 1 motorcycle accident.

Whatever decision Long makes at the end of his review will greatly alter the course of Razorbacks football in the future.

Long can fire Petrino for withholding information about a 25-year-old female football department employee being his passenger, information Petrino kept to himself to protect a “previous inappropriate relationship” from becoming public.

Petrino could also be in violation of the university’s sexual harassment policy.

Long might suspend Petrino or reduce his salary, but keep him on staff.

Whatever Long decides, Hog fans should brace for a potentially rough future.

The program might not struggle on the field this year, though.

There is enough talent on campus to contend, something evident when Arkansas was mentioned as a likely preseason top-10 team following the 2011 season. Whoever the coach is next season, he should have a talented group of players to work with.

The issue might be in the seasons following 2012, when players like Tyler Wilson, Knile Davis, Cobi Hamilton and Alonzo Highsmith are no longer on campus.

They will have to be replaced. That could be a problem if Petrino is retained.

Petrino showed he could build a program after inherited a bare cupboard when he took the job in December 2007. He was able to compile enough talent to lead the Razorbacks to 21 wins the last two seasons, the program’s most wins in a two-year stretch since Frank Broyles’ 1964 and 1965 teams also won 21.

A third consecutive 10-win season in 2012 would be the winningest three-year stretch in school history.

What next?

Petrino was able to recruit relatively well when he first got the job, despite facing criticism for leaving the Atlanta Falcons job with three games remaining in the 2007 season.

That criticism will be magnified 50 times if he is retained. How much difficulty will he have going into recruits’ homes and pitching his program to young men and their parents?

Other schools will have a lot of ammunition to negatively recruit against Arkansas, if they want.

It’s not like the Razorbacks will be able to coast by during a few off years. They’re chasing Alabama and LSU while holding off Auburn, just in their division.

Simply put, it could be a large challenge for Petrino to keep the Hogs in a position to contend in the SEC West beyond this year, if he is retained.

If he is fired, where does Long go?

He would likely have to promote from within like Ohio State did when it fired Jim Tressel in May 2011.

Could he promote Paul Petrino? Would Paul want to stay?

Wonder if Paul Haynes and Taver Johnson are regretting their decisions to head to Fayetteville instead of staying at Ohio State with Urban Meyer.

Regardless of if Long promoted from within or found a new hire were he to fire Petrino, it would be difficult to replace one of the top coaches in the nation.

The fact that Petrino led the program to the most wins in best back-to-back seasons in more than 40 years during the era of SEC domination exemplifies how good of a coach he is.

Long has a lot to consider while reviewing and making his decision.

Problem is, Arkansas might be in a lose-lose position.