Silverfield had chance for CFP after beating Arkansas now coaching Hogs

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek confident new coach can take Hogs to new heights

Memphis Tigers coach Ryan Silverfield reacts during the first half against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek expressed confidence in his press release after tapping Ryan Silverfield as the 35th head coach for the Razorbacks.

"It became clear during our conversations that Coach Silverfield shares our vision of making the College Football Playoffs and competing for a national championship,” Yurachek said in a press release. “With our new and significant financial investment in the football program, we are confident we now have the coach and resources to make that happen."

Silverfield's six seasons at Memphis bring an impressive win-loss record, winning twice as many games as he lost (50-25). Prior to this season, Silverfield went 21-5 the last two years. Arkansas found out his winning pedigree when the Tigers beat the Hogs 32-31, sending Arkansas' season into a tailspin.

Memphis had an inside track to do just that at his previous stop. After defeating Tulsa 45-7 on Oct. 4, Memphis improved to 6-0 and had a 14% chance make the College Football Playoff according to The Athletic's Playoff Predictor. The three Group of Five teams ahead of Memphis with a higher chance all were conference opponents on Memphis' schedule.

New Hog on The Hill 🐗 pic.twitter.com/qwDvkGY91k

— Hogs Plus (@HogsPlus) November 30, 2025

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Tulane, Navy and South Florida all still had to go through Memphis to make the playoffs. All three games were also at home.

Simply put, if Memphis took care of business at home, they would have the inside track to the Group of Five playoff spot.

Instead, Silverfield stumbled at the first hurdle, losing 31-24 to the UAB Blazers, a team that just fired former head coach Trent Dilfer and gave former Arkansas quarterback and interim head coach Alex Mortensen his first win.

The final nail in the coffin came three weeks later when Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw for 332 yards on just 23 pass attempts as the Green Wave beat Memphis 38-32.

Fast forward to present day, North Texas and Tulane are in a shootout for the final playoff spot in the American Conference Championship and Memphis is in a tie for sixth with UTSA and Army after Memphis finished the season on a three-game losing streak.

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— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) November 30, 2025

Memphis fell outside the top 4 in conference play in American in scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense and total defense as their record in the AAC fell to .500.

"Coach Silverfield’s proven ability to win games over a sustained period separated him from the pack and make him the right choice to be our next head football coach," Yurachek said. "His teams at Memphis have been consistent winners since he took over the program in 2019."

Time will tell if Silverfield was the right hire, but he is now tasked with eventually doing what he let slip in his final season at Memphis, bring the Razorbacks to the College Football Playoff.

Silverfield will be formally introduced as the new Razorbacks coach 1 p.m. Thursday in a press conference alongside Yurachek. There will be a public introduction at 5 p.m. in the indoor football practice facility.