Four Things We’ll Learn About Arkansas in First Month of 2026 season

Razorbacks have little time to solve its biggest questions before the schedule intensifies

Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver Courtney Crutchfield on the field against the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, La. | Arkansas Communications

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There's not much time for experimenting when it comes to Arkansas figuring out exactly what it has this fall.

First-year coach Ryan Silverfield won't be given the luxury of back-to-back buy games like the olden days either. The Razorbacks open 2026 at home against North Alabama, but will quickly be thrown into one of the nation's toughest schedules beginning with a Week Two trip to Utah

If Silverfield's first team is going to exceed expectations, several questions must be answered almost immediately.

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Ryan Silverfield looks over his players during warmups before the spring game at Razorback Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

How's That Culture Looking?

A coach can say his team is responding well to everything put in his team's path, but what's going to happen when adversity comes in and slaps them back to earth?

That's the biggest battle Silverfield will have to face early on, especially taking over a program that was just 2-10 in 2025. With only a select few number of returnees back from last season and an injection of new blood out of the portal and high school ranks there is a possibility that a culture change has already taken place.

There was a definitive culture change from Danny Ford to Houston Nutt in 1998. It was the scheme change and reverence instilled under Bobby Petrino that led to a 21-5 record from 2010-2011.

The players loved and fought under Bret Bielema until the bitter end in 2017 and Sam Pittman did much of the same early on in his tenure when rallying the troops. The only outlier was Chad Morris, who quickly divided the locker room upon his first meeting with the team.

Silverfield took over a Memphis program that had gone to the Cotton Bowl and sustained it because of an unsinkable culture, including back-to-back double-digit win seasons in 2023 and 2024. During that team he was able to beat current SEC coaches such as Josh Heupel, Alex Golesh and Jon Sumrall.

Arkansas lost six games by one score last season. Silverfield knows his program is close to a breakthrough, which is why he wants to prove his team right by encouraging them to continue marching forward during the offseason.

"[Our players] are hungry," Silverfield told Razorbacks on SI last month. "Those guys who came back from last year, the newcomers, the staff, everybody's hungry. We want kind of avoid all the outside noise, there's not a prove everybody else wrong, let's just go prove ourselves right, like what we're capable of doing.

Arkansas Razorbacks secondary coach Deron Wilson at spring practice. | Munir El-Khatib-allHOGS

Improved Secondary

After flipping the unit with 19 new faces and retaining defensive back Miguel Mitchell, the Razorbacks are hopeful that swift cleansing will be enough to change things this fall.

If the plan fails, it won't be due to a shortage of talent and playmaking ability with the addition of transfers such as Jahiem Johnson (Tulane), LaKhi Roland (Maryland), Shelton Lewis (Clemson) and several others.

The group has combined for 21 turnovers forced in their college careers, which is a good sign considering Arkansas' defense as a whole forced just nine all of last season. Not only did they not create opportunities, the secondary went palms up more than most others after allowing an SEC-worst 253 yards per game last season through the air.

"When you talk about the secondary, I believe it has to be one," Wilson said. "Because the biggest thing from a secondary standpoint is you don't want to have DBs going palms up.

"Typically, palms up equals busted coverages. As a secondary, we're one, and initially we meet together. Make sure we get everything on the same page, in the same book. "Then from there, they have certain things that safeties need to hear, and Coach Wilford would meet with the safeties, and there are certain things that corners need to hear."

Arkansas Razorbacks running back Braylen Russell during spring practices. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

Unlocking Potential of Russell

The former 4-star running back out of Benton arrived to Arkansas as the bell cow for Arkansas, but hasn't remained healthy for an entire season to this point. Entering his junior season, Russell has missed six games over the past two seasons, but has still recorded 122 carries for 640 yards and eight touchdowns.

While he has trimmed down by more than 20 pounds this offseason, it'll come down to his mentality as an every-down back and pushing forward each day in practice.

“Today is just, you’re only as good as your next,” Russell said earlier this spring. “Coach [David Johnson] preaches that you’re only as good as your next, so going out there thinking about what happened last practice isn’t good because you’re only as good as your next play. So, I just take it play-by-play.”

Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver Courtney Crutchfield during spring practices. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

Can Former Top Recruits Live Up To Recruiting Hype?

Like Russell, there are several players on the roster who go into the season not having met expectations or even shown flashes to this point. Pine Bluff native Courtney Crutchfield was a top-50 prospect out of high school, but spent his first year of college at Missouri.

He transferred to Arkansas following his freshman season, but failed to make much of an impact besides a 26-yard reception in a 23-22 loss to LSU. Offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey has spent time encouraging Crutchfield that he wants to see production meet that talent.

“He’s one of the guys I’m really pleased with," Cramsey said of Crutchfield April 22. "He was a guy that, he admittedly said could’ve been a lot better than he was last year. Came in from his Day 1 of spring ball to where he is right now he has put himself in a position to earn playing time.

“He’s a guy that has earned my trust, I feel confident if we had a game tonight that he would be in the top six receivers and on the field. He's a guy that that actually stepped up in some of the scrimmages too. His performances in the scrimmages were very good. You look for a guy who does a really good job in individual, but better job when we get into unit stuff, then a tremendous job when we get to team stuff. And he’s a guy that’s kind of stepped his game up when the heat’s turned on.”

Several other top recruits such as former 5-star wide receiver Chris Marshall, 4-star tight end Ty Lockwood, 4-star EDGE rushers Charlie Collins and Jamonta Waller, and 4-star defensive back Tyler Scott were all quality acqusitions but haven't quite lived up to expectations.

While this might be an unforseen plan when building a roster, it has quite a large payoff in Silverfield and his staff can figure out how to get the most out of former highly regarded recruits.

Arkansas fans should have a much clearer picture of whether Silverfield's rebuild is progressing along faster than expected, or if there's much more work to be done. When it comes to the SEC, there simply isn't enough time to spend half a season searching for those answers anyway.

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