Oct 25, 2025; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Tigers Head Coach Ryan Silverfield looks on during the second half against the South Florida Bulls at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Arkansas football announced the hiring of Memphis' Ryan Silverfield for its coaching vacancy on Sunday, Nov. 30. Silverfield led the Tigers to an 8-4 record this season, including a 32-31 win over Arkansas on Sept. 20.

Silverfield has a 50-25 record at Memphis, leading the program to back-to-back double-digit win seasons in 2023 and 2024. The Tigers went 4-0 in bowl games under the 45-year-old coach.

Silverfield replaces Sam Pittman, who was fired after going a 32-34 record in six seasons at the helm.

Here's who we grade the Razorbacks' hire:

Grade: C

Three SEC schools hired coaches from the American Conference. This one earned the least fanfare. Silverfield won enough the past three seasons to move up the food chain in a coaches’ market. Go back to the 2023 preseason, and he faced a win-or-be-fired season.

Silverfield will shift from coaching at one of the biggest fishes in a smaller pond to being at one of the smaller fishes in the biggest pond, filled with sharks. It’s a tall order for someone with no SEC experience.

Memphis enjoys advantages to thrive in the American Conference in this NIL era. To Silverfield’s credit, he went 29-9 the past three seasons, the best stretch of his tenure.

He never made the conference championship game, though, and his overall winning percentage trailed predecessor Mike Norvell, who’s failing at Florida State. Justin Fuente also fizzled in his power-conference call-up after coming from the Memphis pipeline.

Silverfield delivered key wins this season against Arkansas and South Florida, but Memphis fizzled in the back half of its schedule, including a loss to a sunken UAB team playing under an interim coach.

Arkansas went the longtime veteran assistant route with its last hire, Sam Pittman, so of course it would try something different here with a 45-year-old sitting coach.

Silverfield’s prolonged stay at Memphis makes him a familiar face in terrain important to Arkansas. He must galvanize donors at a school where men’s basketball demands dollars under John Calipari and baseball is a priority, too.

He’s not a splashy choice. The Razorbacks must hope the lackluster manner in which Silverfield finished his final season at Memphis isn’t a caution flag it missed.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grading the hire: Arkansas picking Ryan Silverfield not a splashy choice

Reporting by Blake Toppmeyer, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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