FAYETTEVILLE — Ryan Silverfield has a massive rebuilding project on his hands with Arkansas football.
The Razorbacks are coming off a 2-10 campaign that marked their fourth winless SEC season since moving to the conference in 1991. They finished the year with 10 consecutive losses, and it felt like there were more Missouri fans inside Arkansas’ home stadium as the year closed with a 31-17 loss on Saturday, Nov. 29.
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And Silverfield’s challenges extend off the field.
He must win over a fan base that has little faith in the administration that made this hire.
Here are three texts I received from Arkansas fans after the hire.
“Worst football leadership in the SEC.”
“Season tickets are going to plummet.”
“Arkansas is cooked as a football program.”
Social media was also ablaze with negativity when reports from national outlets emerged that Silverfield was the Hogs’ next coach. Much of the ire was directed at athletic director Hunter Yurachek, who had two full months to go through this coaching search after firing Sam Pittman in late September.
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The social media fury extended into reality on Sunday, Nov. 30, with dozens of protestors converging outside the Jerry & Gene Jones Student-Athlete Success Center. They held up signs that read “Fire Yurachek”, “Save the Program” and “Keep Bobby”.
One protestor was an alum named John, who declined to provide his last name but spoke on his frustrations with the administration. He said that he didn’t want to slam on Silverfield, but he felt like Arkansas wasn’t doing enough to support its football program.
“People are just upset with leadership. There’s no clear direction. We’re seeing programs similar to Arkansas like Ole Miss dominate in the NIL era. We’re really falling behind. I think that really changes at the top. I don’t think that’s a per-coach basis. I think Yurachek needs to go,” John said.
Arkansas fans gather on campus to protest the school’s hiring of Ryan Silverfield as its next head football coach.
The fans dreamed of James Franklin, then cheered for South Florida’s Alex Golesh while accepting Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack as a fallback option. The Southwest Times Record can confirm Arkansas had interest in all three, in addition to North Texas coach Eric Morris.
Instead, they’ll have to find optimism in Silverfield, and there are reasons for Arkansas fans to believe in the former Memphis coach.
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He went 50-25 across six seasons. For the first time in Memphis history, Silverfield guided the Tigers to back-to-back seasons of at least 10 wins from 2023-24. Memphis ranked inside the top 25 of scoring offense in each of the past four seasons.
The Tigers were consistently one of the best recruiting teams in the American Conference under his stewardship, and they gave Arkansas a first-hand look at their success by beating the Razorbacks in September.
But the resume comes with warts that have fans pessimistic. Silverfield is 12-20 against teams with a record above .500. That record drops to 3-12 in road games vs. teams above .500. He’s never won a conference title and finished his Memphis tenure on a three-game losing streak.
Arkansas fans have been at each other’s throats during this coaching search with disagreements on who the new leader should be. Yurachek needed to make a hire that united his base. It isn’t any fault of Silverfield’s, but early indications are that the athletic director failed in this particular category.
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More importantly, and yet to be determined, is how Arkansas’ boosters will react. Yurachek and Pittman consistently bemoaned the Hogs’ financial standing. They said they couldn’t compete with their SEC rivals in the NIL space and hoped that revenue sharing would boost the program. In the first year under the new system, Arkansas lost 10 consecutive games.
If those who financially support the Razorbacks program come around on Silverfield, there’s no reason the coach can’t be successful in Fayetteville.
One thing is unquestionable: Yurachek’s already low popularity took a big hit with his latest coaching hire.
He needs Silverfield to be the savior of Arkansas football and his own tenure as Hogs athletic director.
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Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@usatodayco.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Unpopular Hunter Yurachek makes unpopular hire for Arkansas football
