John L. Smith’s finances in even worse shape than had been realized

John L. Smith, who served as head coach of Arkansas this season in the wake of the Bobby Petrino scandal and firing, has been accused by his creditors of fraud in his contract with Arkansas according to Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today.

Smith, who was reportedly on the hook for $40 million in liabilities due to bad real estate investments and was revealed to have next to no money in September, allegedly tried to game his contract to avoid having to pay more money to those he owed. Apparently, the former Louisville and Michigan State coach ensured that his contract would pay him the majority of his $850,000 salary in two lump sums after the season ended. The reasoning is that he hadn’t yet filed for bankruptcy when he signed the contract, and debtors aren’t necessarily entitled to keep money they earn before they file for bankruptcy. This made it appear as if his income was just a tad over $100 a month, whereas in fact it was closer to $80,000.

Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today reports that Smith filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 6 after racking up nearly $26 million in liabilities against just over $1 million in assets. At the moment? Smith has $800 to his name.

Smith apparently made some bad real estate investments while he was at Louisville. I’d say that over $25 million in debt goes a little bit beyond “bad investments.” In fact, the only logical explanation I can possibly envision is that this is some sort of Brewster’s Millions scenario.