New Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield isn’t blaming the past for the Razorbacks’ recent struggles.
He says the road ahead depends on something bigger than wins and losses.
Silverfield told SEC Network on Thursday that getting everyone in the state pulling in the same direction will decide whether his tenure succeeds.
The Hogs are coming off a rough 2-10 season, and fans haven’t hidden their frustration. Silverfield knows that.
He’s spent his first nine months on the job digging into why things went wrong.
His answer wasn’t simple. He pointed to years of small missteps piling up in a sport that keeps changing fast.
Silverfield points to alignment as missing piece
“I’m not here to point the finger, but it’s a multitude of things that needed to get fixed,” Silverfield said. “I think part of it is just understanding of alignment, okay?”
He brought up how well other Arkansas sports programs have performed lately.
Basketball coach John Calipari even called him the night before his SEC Network appearance to wish him luck.
Baseball coach Dave Van Horn’s success came up too.
“I’m so glad that we are so successful at other sports,” Silverfield said. “All the other sports are having success … Those things are great, but why has football not had the recent success?”
Every part of program is under review
Silverfield said he’s looked at everything connected to Razorback football.
That includes fundraising, in-state recruiting, player development and even something as small as the lighting inside the stadium on game day.
“I’ve looked at every single thing that has to do with our football program, and some as much as even lighting on game day,” he said. “How do we make this place a better place? I think I’ve got quite a few of the answers.”
He made clear that fixing Arkansas football takes more than coaches and players.
He said the athletic director, board of trustees, chancellor and even the governor need to be on the same page.
Getting whole state on same page
“You have to have the understanding that I need the athletic director, to the board of trustees, to the chancellor, to the governor, everybody on board, especially in the state of Arkansas,” Silverfield said. “We want to have success at football. This is what it’s going to take.”
He warned that without full buy-in from everyone involved, real progress will be tough to reach.
“If we don’t make these changes, if we’re not all aligned, it’s going to be a hard, hard task to ask us to move forward and have a lot of success,” Silverfield said. “So, getting everybody aligned, understanding what this is, what it looks like … we need to make start running towards these things.”
A slow build starting with small changes
Silverfield said change won’t happen overnight.
He often shares a story about starting small, with things like new lights or fresh paint, before building toward bigger.
Nick Saban, also at the SEC Network desk, backed up that mindset. Saban recalled his own early days at Alabama and how he pushed players and staff to break old habits.
“When I went to Alabama, they kept telling me that’s the way we’ve always done it,” Saban told Silverfield. “I finally said, ‘If you say that one more time, you’re fired.’ You need to change these things in Arkansas.”
Arkansas opens the Silverfield era on Sept. 5 against North Alabama. Kickoff is set for 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network.
Key takeaways
- Ryan Silverfield says statewide alignment matters more than recent history
- He’s reviewed every part of the program including stadium lighting
- Arkansas opens its season Sept. 5 against North Alabama on SEC Network
