Arkansas hires Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield

On Sunday morning, Memphis Tigers head coach Ryan Silverfield accepted the same position with the Arkansas Razorbacks. He was one of three American Conference head coaches to relocate to the SEC on the Sunday morning following the conclusion of the regular season.

“It became clear during our conversations that Coach Silverfield shares our vision of making the College Football Playoffs and competing for a national championship,” Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said in a statement. “With our new and significant financial investment in the football program, we are confident we now have the coach and resources to make that happen. Throughout the search process, Coach Silverfield’s proven ability to win games over a sustained period separated him from the pack and make him the right choice to be our next head football coach. His teams at Memphis have been consistent winners since he took over the program in 2019. The knowledge of our state and region he brings along with the ability to build and maintain a program will provide a great foundation for our program moving forward. We are excited to welcome his wife, Katie, and their two daughters, Adeline and Celicia, to Arkansas.”

Silverfield finalized his 6-year run at Memphis, where he produced a 50-25 record and fared 4-1 in bowl games. He originally onboarded as an offensive line coach in 2016, and during the Tigers’ 2019 campaign — the most successful season in program history — Silverfield was named the interim head coach after Mike Norvell departed for Florida State. Shedding the interim status prior to the game, Silverfield made his debut coaching vs. Penn State in the 2019 Cotton Bowl. As an internal hire, he kept Memphis’ winning tradition alive — never faring under .500 and producing the best two-year stretch the program had ever seen, faring 21-5 from 2023-24. Memphis earned its second-highest year-end ranking in school history in 2024, checking in at No. 24 in the final AP Poll.

Silverfield was renowned for impressive non-conference success at Memphis, producing a 23-4 record vs. non-American Conference opponents. He won his final 11 non-conference matchups with the Tigers (including bowl games), defeating the likes of Iowa State, Boise State, West Virginia, Florida State, and Arkansas during that span. Silverfield However, Memphis never qualified for the American Conference Championship Game in the 6-year tenure, and the Tigers await their first conference title since 2019.

Another notable stat from Silverfield’s tenure includes a 51-game streak of scoring 20+ points, an FBS-best streak which finally ended in the Tigers’ 28-17 loss to Navy on Thanksgiving Night. Additionally, his team was consistently competitive and never lost by more than 12 points in his final 50 games at the helm.

Prior to leading Memphis, the 45-year old coach held previous roles in the NFL, serving on the Minnesota Vikings’ staff from 2008-13 in various assistant roles and operating as the Detroit Lions assistant offensive line coach for a portion of 2015. Arkansas represents his second collegiate head coaching role, and ironically, it’s a program Silverfield defeated on Sept. 20 — erasing an 18-point deficit for a 32-31 Memphis victory.

Silverfield succeeds Sam Pittman as the 35th full-time head coach at Arkansas. Pittman was fired on Sept. 28 after finishing 32-34 across six seasons, peaking at 9-4 in 2021. Former Razorback head coach Bobby Petrino served the interim since Pittman’s early-season dismissal and continued the role through Saturday’s season finale loss to Missouri. The Razorbacks currently ride a 10-game win streak and Silverfield aims to snap that in his 2026 debut against FCS North Alabama.

As for Memphis, second-year assistant head coach/defensive backs coach Reggie Howard will serve as the interim for the upcoming bowl game. Memphis seeks its fifth-straight bowl win, looking to snap a 3-game losing streak and end 2025 on a high note.