Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield took one of the most challenging jobs in college football after being part of the coaching carousel that gripped the sport toward the end of last season. Silverfield was linked with several Power Four jobs before he took the Arkansas job that had been held by interim coach Bobby Petrino after Sam Pittman was fired.
Why an Anonymous Coach Doubts Ryan Silverfield’s Fit at Arkansas
In an interview with Athlon Sports magazine on Tuesday, an anonymous coach praised Silverfield’s coaching but expressed his pessimism over his suitability for the Arkansas job.
“They’re not considered a sleeping giant,” the anonymous coach said. “Ryan Silverfield is a great coach who might have taken the wrong Power 4 job at the wrong time. Silverfield has always had excellent offenses.
“They put a lot on their quarterbacks to make checks and reads. He’s very calm on game day and very bright. He understands the ending of games and how to handle those situations with timeouts.”
The Razorbacks fired Pittman in September 2025 after a woeful 2-3 start to the season, including a loss to Silverfield’s Memphis. Under Petrino, they suffered seven more losses to close out the season before signing Silverfield to a five-year, $33.5 million contract.
In six seasons in charge of Memphis after succeeding Mike Norvell, Silverfield led the Tigers to a 50-25 record. He won eight or more games in four of his six full seasons as Memphis coach, including four bowl wins.
Silverfield will take over an Arkansas team that hasn’t won double-digit games in 14 years and has 14 consecutive seasons with four or more losses. In an interview with USA Today on May 7 after his first spring in Fayetteville, the former Memphis coach laid out the scale of the job he took on.
“They’ve had, think about this: One Power Four win in three years at home,” Silverfield said. “Think about that. They’ve only won one Power Four game at home in the last three years. And people are like, ‘We remember the Tennessee game.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, we don’t want you guys to be able to remember that.’ But why is that?
“I think this is one of the jobs it takes, you’re gonna have to be really good at a lot of things. This is not a job you can just come in and be a quarterback guru and Xs and Os guy. You can’t, because there’s too many other things that are needed. Because if you’ve had that kind of failure, it can’t just be coaching.”
Arkansas has a harrowing schedule next season, including games against the LSU Tigers, Texas Longhorns, and Georgia Bulldogs to put Silverfield directly in the line of fire. According to PFSN’s College Football Playoff Meter, the Razorbacks are expected to win 4.95 games in Silverfield’s first season in charge.
