Can Silverfield Escape Historically Bad Start for New Arkansas Coaches?

The SEC doesn’t treat new coaches fairly, especially those going into their first year

Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield looks over his football team during spring practice. | Razorback Communications

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As Ryan Silverfield prepares to enter his first season with the Razorbacks, he is hoping to have more success than the last several Arkansas head coaches who failed to make a positive first impression during their first season in Fayetteville.

Fortunately for Silverfield, from a historical perspective, he enters his first year in Arkansas with extremely low expectations, as five of the past six head coaches began their tenure with the Razorbacks with a losing record in their first season.

Before Silverfield makes his debut with the Razorbacks in less than two months, I have decided to look back and reevaluate the successes and failures of every head coach's first season with the Razorbacks since Houston Nutt took over the program in 1998.

Former Arkansas Razorbacks football coach Houston Nutt attends the game against the Missouri Tigers at Bud Walton Arena. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Houston Nutt- 1998 (9-3)

Although Nutt's time in Arkansas ended somewhat tumultuously, he does deserve recognition as the most recent coach in program history to finish his first season in Fayetteville with a winning record ,which took place in 1998.

When he first arrived at Arkansas, Nutt inherited an Arkansas program that was well past their glory days and that had finished with a losing record in its final two seasons under former head coach Danny Ford.

However, Nutt was quickly able to revamp the program and lead the Razorbacks to an 8-0 start in his inaugural season before losing three of his final four games to finish the year with a 9-3 record.

While Nutt's time in Arkansas was filled with ups and downs his opening season set the tone for his nine year tenure that was filled sucesss that the program has not seen since his departcure.

Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino on the field during warmups before they faced the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

Bobby Petrino- 2008 (5-7)

While his time in Arkansas was filled with controversy and off-field disappointment, Bobby Petrino is still remembered by most Arkansas fans in a positive light for being the last head coach to lead the program to double-digit wins and a Cotton Bowl appearance.

Petrino took over the program after being forced to return to the college level following a failed one-year stint as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Once he began his first season in Fayetteville, many fans believed he was not cut out to coach in the SEC, as he led the Razorbacks to a 2-6 record in conference play and finished his first year with a 5-7 overall record, forcing the program to miss a bowl game for the first time since 2005.

Although Petrino got off to a shaky start, he quickly bounced back and put his first season at Arkansas behind him. He led the Hogs to more success than the program had seen in years, including two seasons with over 10 regular-season wins, along with an appearance in the Sugar and Cotton Bowls, which the program has not returned to since.

Former Arkansas Razorbacks interim coach John L. Smith celebrates after the Razorbacks scored a touchdown during the first half against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Razorbacks beat the Tigers 24-7. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

John L. Smith -2012 (4-8)*

After Petrino was dismissed from the University of Arkansas following the 2011 season, the football program quickly returned to mediocrity, which was kicked off by the brief and underwhelming John Smith era.

Expectations for the Razorbacks were sky-high going into 2012 after finisihng the previous year with 11 regular-season wins for the first time since Lou Holtz took over the program in 1977.

Unfortunately, once the 2012 season kicked off, those high expectations quickly plummeted after Smith led the team to a 1-4 record to start the season, which included a brutal 52-0 loss against Alabama.

Smith's lone season in Fayetteville eventually concluded with a 4-8 record causing the Razorbacks to miss a bowl game for the first time since Petrino first took over the program back in 2008.

Former Arkansas Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema on the field of Byrant-Denney Stadium prior to their game against the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2013. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Bret Bielema- 2013 (3-9)

After the brief but disappointing John Smith era, Arkansas executives attempted to turn the tide and return the program to contention by bringing in former Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema.

Similar to Petrino and Smith, Bielema also got off to a disappointing start with the Razorbacks finishing his first year with an 0-8 conference record.

After getting off to a 3-0 start against non-conference teams to kick off the season, Bielema was quickly hit by the reality of the SEC and lost the next 9 straight games to finish the year with a 3-9 record.

While Bielema's first season was embarrassing, he was able to move past his rough start and led the Razorbacks to winning records in his final three out of four seasons at the helm

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Chad Morris during the game against the Auburn Tigers at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Auburn won 51-10. | USA TODAY Sports

Chad Morris - 2018 (2-10)

Arguably the worst hire ever made in Arkansas athletics Chad Morris started his tenure in Arkansas nearly as bad has one could imagine.

After taking over the program in 2018, Morris quickly led the Razorbacks to a 2-10 record, and similar to Bielema, he was unable to lead the Razorbacks to a conference win during his first season.

What makes Morris the worst coach since the 2000s is that after going 2-10 in his first season he was given an oppurunity to coach the Razorbacks again in 2019 in where he once again led the Hogs to a 2-10 without a confrence win.

Meaning the Razorbacks went two years in a row without an SEC win before Morris was fiannly fired follwoing the 2019 season.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman looks on during warm ups prior to the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Sam Pittman - 2020 (3-7)

Now, to Arkansas most recent coach to lead the Razorbacks, Sam Pittman, who, similarly to all of the other coaches who have led the program since Nutt's departure, got off to a slow start.

In Pittman's defense, he did take over at Arkansas during arguably the program's worst stretch in university history and also became a head coach for the first time in his career in the middle of COVID.

So, with all things considered, the fact that Pittman led the Razorbacks to a 3-7 record during his first year, which included three SEC wins, is somewhat respectable.

While the remainder of Pittman's time at Arkansas was filled with ups and downs outside of his first season, he was able to conclude his tenure with a decent 29-27 record.

If history is any indicator, Silverfield may be in for a rough year with the Razorbacks, but while his predecessors have failed to get off to strong starts, Silverfield does have a chance to rewrite history and change this program's trajectory by bringing a winning culture back to Arkansas for the first time in a long time.

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