Ryan Silverfield Bet On Himself With A Pen And 100 Letters

Hogs' coach wrote over 100 personalized letters to college coaches, an act of intentionality that still shapes how he leads today

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

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Long before Ryan Silverfield ever stepped foot in the SEC at Arkansas or coached in the NFL, he lived in the basement of a Division III gymnasium with a pen, a notebook and a stack of envelopes with one goal in mind.

He was determined to make somebody notice him by writing more than 100 handwritten letters to college football coaches around the country, hoping one would open a door that emails and resumes couldn't.

SIlverfield has shared his unconventional rise to an SEC head coaching job with the Razorbacks before. Going into his 28th year in the coaching ranks, the 45-year-old probably didn't have this kind of success in mind when he got his start in 1999 at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla.

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Ryan Silverfield speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Creating His Own Opportunity

While sitting in what he considered the basement Hampden-Sydney College's gymnasium, Silverfield didn't just write bland, uninteresting letters looking for a job. He was seeking an opportunity and that didn't have to be as a coordinator, or an on-field position coach role either.

"I wrote a letter to every Division I head coach, a handwritten letter, and I just said, listen, I graduate in two years, I've been coaching, here's my background and a handwritten letter and made it personalized, to everyone and that takes a little time. I wrote and I just said I'd love to be a graduate assistant or a quality control assistant and even wrote some of these FCS schools back then.

"And I wrote, 'I'd love to be a part of your program' and I wrote down my phone number. I didn't have a cell number. It was a hard landline, literally. I lived in the dungeon of the basement of the gym and, you know, I got one written from Tyrone Willingham, the head coach at Washington at the time. He used to be the head coach at Notre Dame.

"Then, the other was, Buddy Teevens, the former head coach at Stanford, he called the landline and said, 'Hey, make sure your grades are right, because to get into our master's program at Stanford, you're going to have to have a certain higher GPA. You're going gonna have to take a certain test, to be able to get in and that was it."

All Silverfield was seeking was a reply, and he received two of them.

Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield celebrates following a big play at practice. | Razorback football twitter

Living With an Intentional Mindset

In an era dominated by social media and instant communication, he still believes that intentional effort still separates people.

"That always kind of crossed my mind, man, I had written all these letters. Now, when I go speak, whether it's the Nike clinics or any of these other clinics that we're involved with or I had the opportunity meet with, even coach, I say 'Listen, write letters. Anybody can send a DM, anybody can send an email. Anybody can send the generic typed up letter that's mass produced.

"But write a handwritten letter and most likely I'm gonna write you back. And if you can be consistent with it, at least it's an opportunity to develop a relationship."

Although he ultimately decided to take a job as head coach at Memorial Day High School in Savannah, Ga., Silverfield knew that wasn't the place that was meant for him long-term. His career took off the moment UCF and head coach George O'Leary came calling with a graduate assistant opening.

Fast forward 20 years later and he still reflects on how it all happened, with a personalized letter to more than 100 coaches in the college profession. Silverfield wanted climb up the coaching ladder immediately after a neck injury put his playing career on the shelf, and used his intentional personality to do exactly that.

There's no certainty how his career at Arkansas is going to pan out, but he has shown he isn't going to back down. He's put too many years grinding from the bottom to simply put a limit what he can achieve now.

One conversation from a letter eventually led him on a career path that would take him from a Division III basement to the Southeastern Conference.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield at spring practice. | Munir El-Khatib-allHOGS Images

More than 25 years later, he still believes the smallest gestures often create the biggest opportunities. He'll be the first to tell anyone that he didn't have rich parents to help provide for him, or a dad that raised him around football his whole life.

"I'm okay with people not necessarily knowing who I am now," he continued. "It's my opportunity and and my job is to show the people of this great state who I am and what we're all about as a program, the current players on our roster and then ultimately recruits. And I think the fans are starting to see it."

Silverfield got here because his mindset was to create opportunities for himself instead of sitting around waiting for one to find him.

"I don't have a famous dad, or anybody in this industry that I know of... ," Silverfield said. "I didn't play college football. So, I just kind of found ways to just, you know, put my head down and work."

You can watch the complete 40 minute interview with SEC Network host Peter Burns and analyst Chris Doering on Youtube below:

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