Hogs' Ryan Silverfield: 'I don't give a crap about the X's and O's'

From trench warfare, lighting up scoreboard while huddling, focus on fundamentals, Razorbacks coach aligns with Arkansas culture

Arkansas Razorbacks new head football coach Ryan Silverfield speaks to the crowd during halftime against the Louisville Cardinals at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Hogs fans will get the chance to know new Arkansas football coach Ryan Silverfield a little more at his introductory press conference later today.

However, back in the spring, before Razorbacks fans had any idea they might need to have at least basic knowledge of the then Memphis head coach, Silverfield's former assistant, ex-Hogs lineman Brey Cook, along with his "Coaches Podcast" co-host Jeff Williams, sat down to interview Silverfield on what is becoming a rather infamous couch in the football facility in Memphis.

The lengthy interview covered many topics, some of which were already covered in a previous "Razorbacks on SI" story. However, with plenty of meat left on the bone, it's time to get into the more football focused side of Silverfield as revealed that day.

That includes why his background as an offensive line coach makes him better equipped to be a head coach rather than those who only served in other positions. Also addressed are his offensive philosophy in regard to time of possession and generating large numbers, his obsession with details, and when X's and O's should be scrapped for a focus on fundamentals.

Why offensive line coaches are better prepared to be head coach

Much like former Hogs coach Sam Pittman, Silverfield is a former offensive line coach, although he has a bit more diversity in his resume than his predecessor on top of actual head coaching experieince. However, it's his time managing linemen that he says is most valuable in him being properly prepared for the job.

"As an offensive line coach, you're dealing with about 20 guys in your room every time, right?" Silverfield said. "And no knock on a quarterback coach, a tight ends coach, [but] if you're dealing with four guys at a time and that's all you're dealing with, there's certain things that you haven't seen. You just have a small number. It's pretty easy to make sure they're going to school. There's going to be only so many limited issues. When you're dealing with 20 guys at a time, you've got so many things that can come up for offensive line coaches."

He also talked about needing to not only be creative and intelligent while having to plan for attacks coming from anywhere on the defense, but also the need to create a culture of physicality, intelligence and teamwork. He has to have more players he's responsible for bringing in truly understand and execute the calls than other positions because, if they don't, the world comes crashing down for everyone else.

"Our hands are on more guys, day in and day out, and you got to be able to teach, you got to be able to articulate, you got to be able to recruit," Silverfield said. "And so, when it's all said and done, you've got to be organized. I think that's ultimately why you see the ability for that role, to be able step up [and] just change directly from an offensive line coach to a head coach."

However, unlike Pittman, Silverfield didn't find himself stuck on offensive line his entire career. He didn't even spend it all on that side of the ball as he took a turn on defense early on also.

"I think part of it also is I've coached every position," Silverfield said. "You know, when I first got in with the Minnesota Vikings, I was a defensive line guy. I was a quarterback coach in 2005 at Jacksonville University. I've coached defensive backs. I've coached it all. Part of the reason — I didn't play college football — but over the last part of my career, I was now officially back in as an offensive line coach, which I appreciate. I love. I still think it always starts up front, but I think trying to be well-rounded at that position sort of helps you."

Old school approach has grown on Silverfield, so has time of possession, points

One thing people don't often associate with a former offensive line coach is an explosive offense. However, all six of Silverfield's teams averaged 30+ points per game, while his final season saw the Tigers put up nearly 35 points per game.

That was done with a strong rushing attack that averaged over 186 yards per game while posting 34 touchdowns on the ground.

"Everybody assumes we are this throwing the ball all over the yard, we're an up tempo team, that we're doing, you know, 'Hey, you guys must be air raid, do you even play with a running back out there?'" Silverfield said with a laugh.

To top it off, he had a streak of nearly five full seasons worth of consecutive games where the offense put up at least 20 points. Despite the huge numbers, Silverfield's teams dominated time of possession, primarily because of a conscious decision to switch back to huddling up as a team, which brought about a dramatic shift in his Memphis' historic success.

"We went to a modified tab huddle this past year, and believe it or not, we were actually, I believe, third in the country. in time of possession," Silverfield said. "It's like Army, Air Force, and then us, then Navy. I mean, it was like, the service academies and Memphis. Everyone was like 'Wait, you guys going to, like, triple option, like, what's going on?"

In addition to increases time of possession, the Memphis staff found communication was a lot better across the board, which led to fewer blown plays and penalties.

"I think part of that being able to huddle, be able to have the time of possession, is one, owning the football, right, not turning the ball over, and then be able to get takeaways on defense, and then being really efficient," Silverfield said. "So we lined up to play football, offensive football, we're going to call the play, but we always want to make sure that play is for a positive gain. We've had TFLs. We've had sacks. We've had some negative plays, but if we're going to call a play, let's make sure that the quarterbacks bring us in the right situation with that play to at least get us back to the line of scrimmage."

There's a time for scheme, but this ain't it

One thing Silverfield is certain of is his offensive staff will have more X's and O's, schemes and general volume of plays to more than cover what his team is going to need. However, while it's nice for his staff to try to dial up something that is going to make a coach on the other side of the ball look bad, there's a place and time for that.

Unfortunately for those assistants who really want to flex, spring isn't where that's going to happen. Silverfield doesn't have patience for that kind of stuff in April when his focus is more simplified.

"I tell our staff all the time, we've got enough scheme to last us a lifetime," Silverfield said. "I think coaches want to get so creative and so unique, like, oh, 'I can do this play, and we can do this and I, how am I gonna, you know, make sure I embarrass the offensive coordinator there. I got this unique play. None of that crap matters right now. I mean, we gotta get ready for Game 1, but not today."

Instead, he wants to drive home fundamentals, something that goes unnoticed until teams like Arkansas has fielded recently show evidence of not having things like leading with the shoulder and wrapping up on defense or taking a good angle with full speed pursuit hammered into their DNA.

"I always want to go back to the basic fundamentals," Silverfield said. "It's unique because you get to bring in the guy. You may bring a guy from East Tennessee State, you may bring a guy from Arkansas, you may bring a guy from out of Maine, a guy from Florida, a guy from Rhodes College. The basic fundamentals are still gonna be what's all up. You still have to block stuff, to tackle, to learn to step the right way. You still have to be able to make the throws, take care of the football, all those things."

He wants to see the fundamentals mastered to an extreme level. Without it, he doesn't see the foundation needed for success.

"I don't give a crap about the X's and O's," Silverfield said. "We'll be fine. Can our guys step in the right direction? Can they run to the ball with full speed offense, defense, and special teams while playing with the effort we're looking for? And then go 'Look guys, let's catch our breath. It's my job to make sure we're on the same page with what we need, x's and o's and schematically, but continue to harp the fundamentals.'"

Part of those fundamentals comes from doing small things the right way on and off the field. For Silverfield, that means everything from having the right attitude during warm-up drills to having a plan for parking to make sure players are where they need to be on time.

"Everything in this program is important," Silverfield said. "I'll film stretch. So we'll go out to practice today, they actually film stretch, and I'll go back and I can tell our guys aren't ready. I said, 'Listen, I could tell we weren't going to start off practice well, because the way we stretched.

"How you do anything is how you do everything," Silverfield said. "So the little things we got to make sure [are mastered], because if we can't handle little things right, how the heck am I gonna trust you on fourth and one in the third quarter of a football game?"