Razorbacks May Not Win Games, but Hogs Certainly Winning Early PR Battle

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas football team is doing its best to win the public relations game as it barrels toward spring practices.

It seems the overall theme is letting fans know they are working hard at getting in shape. One thing new head coach Ryan Silverfield has clearly asked for is for the media team to ramp up its cinematic videos of generic workouts.

They must be made to look as high energy and difficult as possible with power cut after power cut in the editing to maximize the on-screen energy as coaches yell alongside their players and clap frantically with the day's schedule in one hand while bending over demonstrating extreme personal interest.

It's working. Arkansas fans are eating it up.

They find it refreshing to see a workout video being posted in early February. So much was hidden by the previous regime that such a simple cracking of the door set to generic epic music highlighted by a little natural sound is enough to get Arkansas fans' blood pumping.

One down 🤞 pic.twitter.com/N7Kmyr3M2s
— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) February 4, 2026

But if something that generic is going to work, just imagine what Hogs fans must have felt when defensive end Quincy Rhodes, Jr. went live on social media with a late night workout. It looked like a carbon copy of the scene in the movie "Greater" where Brandon Burlsworth used to sneak into the facility to do extra workouts and got caught by then head coach Houston Nutt.

Former NFL and Arkansas tight end DJ Williams happened to see Rhodes streaming and sent a message asking him to hop on his podcast to talk about putting that work in and, to the delight of Razorbacks fans, a dripping Rhodes happened to see the message and hopped on. It was pure adrenaline bottled up and served through a screen to be injected directly into the veins of Arkansas fans.

This young man was putting in the work, and to make it even better, it's one of the local players who "understands what it means to be a Razorback."

Quincy Rhodes Jr. Surprises Us on the Show, Arkansas’ DL Leader for Next Season. We talk about his thoughts on next year, the new head coach @RSilverfield, and players coming from the portal! pic.twitter.com/41neodUew1
— D.J. Williams (@dj45williams) January 29, 2026

It became clear rather quickly this isn't something Rhodes just starting doing this particular night. He had a chance to go to the NFL and chose to stay and prove Arkansas is more than the world's greatest 2-10 team.

While he didn't call out anyone directly, one thing Rhodes pointed out is this particular group of guys has been using time wisely to get ready for everything that is yet to come. It hinted strongly that not everyone was bought into doing what it took to win with the previous team, which is what led to a mass rotation of coaches in and out of the locker room throughout the season.

"One thing I like about this group of guys is they're willing to work," Rhodes said. "We all have got the mentality, especially since Coach Silverfield, since he's been in office, the 'All In' mentality. Everybody is buying into the program and everybody is just going to work. I'm expecting big things from those guys. They need to know the standard as well. Just a matter of how bad they want it and how fast they can pick things up in the spring."

Earlier this week, former Razorbacks offensive lineman Fernando Carmona spoke on a podcast with West Moore about the reaction people had to the talent Arkansas sent to the Senior Bowl. Apparently officials and players were surprised the Hogs could go 2-10 with this level of athletes.

"I've tried to look back on it, but even then I'm still shocked [a team that talented went 2-10]," Carmona said. "Even the people at the Senior Bowl, they're like 'Dude, you guys have great players. You guys have six players here,' which is the most, I think, of any team at the Senior Bowl. And they're like 'Wow! How are you guys 2-10?"

Well, one clear answer to that is not all of these Razorbacks put in the effort during the season that was shown at the Senior Bowl. Not even close.

One particular player was a bit of a shock to have gotten an invite because every game showed an extreme lack of effort, which directly played a large part in Arkansas falling short in one-score game after one-score game regardless of how great or not great the opponent may be.

When the highlights began coming out from practices at the Senior Bowl, the Razorback in question looked like an entirely different player. He was unrecognizable other than he looked like what fans kept imagining he could have been.

That just drew even more questions. Is he dedicated to being his best now because his career is on the line, or did he just not believe in the coaches on campus and they couldn't get it out of him?

So, after a year like last 2025, it's a good move by Silverfield and his players to show them working as much as possible. Whether it be the mundane stuff that every team is doing right now, or the extra work that only a handful of players are putting in across the country, it changes the vibe.

It builds equity with Arkansas fans, gets recruits excited, and in the case of Rhodes, gets NFL executives excited. It's barely February and the Hogs are getting positive vibes in regard to football.

Silverfield can't ask for much more. That is until he needs his film crew to pump out the next cinematic piece.

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