Silverfield’s mid-tier ranking sets Arkansas’ coaching bar calmly low

Hiring of Ryan Silverfield earned a modest national ranking, placing the Hogs squarely in the middle of the 2025 coaching carousel pack

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield during his introductory press conference at Frank Broyles Center in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

If you’ve lived long enough in the South, you know a good “welcome gift” when you see one.

Maybe it’s a pie you didn’t really ask for. Maybe it’s a neighbor who waves from the porch every morning with the kind of smile that says, "Bless your heart, you’ll figure it out someday."

In the case of Arkansas hiring Ryan Silverfield, the welcome gift came from ESPN, wrapped politely in a “mid-pack” bow by Bill Connelly.

The Razorbacks’ new coach slid in at No. 24 on the 2025 FBS coaching-carousel rankings, which is the sport’s way of saying, We don’t dislike it, but we’re not clearing our schedules over it.

ESPN described the hire by writing, “Silverfield didn’t have the highest ceiling in this cycle, but he might have one of the higher floors.”

Around here, that’s another version of saying the Hogs picked a man who can probably keep the truck on the road, but nobody’s promising the engine won’t rattle.

Arkansas needed someone to rebuild after the 2025 collapse, and Silverfield was available, experienced, and capable.

In modern college football arithmetic, that alone earns you a handshake and a ranking that doesn’t involve the bottom third.

Ryan Silverfield has vowed Arkansas football will “win a ton of games” and he said thinks the team can start winning relatively quickly: https://t.co/XVdJBkrmgI

— WholeHogSports.com (@wholehogsports) December 24, 2025

Memphis résumé wrapped in realism

The ESPN write-up noted Silverfield “did a very solid job at Memphis, with wins over Florida State, West Virginia, Iowa State and Mississippi State.” They even included the Hogs in there because they managed to start the awakening that led to all of the changes.

Those are the types of victories administrators love pointing to when they’re trying to calm down a fan base that just lived through a 2–10 season.

But the SEC, as the columnist’s cliché goes, is not Memphis. It barely tolerates Memphis barbecue unless it’s being used as a peace offering.

So ESPN’s tone stayed measured when evaluating Silverfield’s jump to Fayetteville.

That’s the polite way of reminding folks from Texarkana to Mountain Home this isn’t a simple conference shift. This is a lifestyle change.

The Razorbacks aren’t grading him on Florida State-type upsets anymore. They’re grading him on how he handles nine straight Saturdays of opponents who can afford better lighting systems than most small cities.

The changes Ryan Silverfield made to improve Arkansas football culture so far https://t.co/Zy1UGXll5p

— Times Record (@TimesRecord) December 24, 2025

Carousel filled with louder hires

The 2025 carousel was noisy even by SEC standards. LSU hiring Lane Kiffin was treated like the league unveiling a shiny new monument. Florida taking Jon Sumrall brought national nods of approval.

Arkansas, meanwhile, earned the kind of review you give a dependable pickup truck, “Runs well. Doesn’t leak. Won’t impress the neighbors, but it’ll get you home.”

If college football fans were reasonable people, that line would soothe them. But SEC fans treat coaching hires like county fairs treat prize hogs — if it doesn’t win the ribbon, somebody gets fussed at.

The Razorbacks chose the calm path, not the fireworks path. And the rankings reflected it.

How the Razorbacks ended up here

Arkansas didn’t enter the carousel quietly. The previous season’s unraveling left the Hogs searching for someone who could clean up the debris without needing a search party himself.

ESPN summed it up the same way we've heard a few times since 2012 with, “Arkansas opted for a coach who understands program-building, even if the hire lacks headline value.”

Again — polite, Southern, borderline church-newsletter language for "We’ve seen worse, and we’re not panicking."

Arkansas fans can squint at the ranking and decide whether it’s a consolation ribbon or a starting point. Mid-tier hires grow into excellent ones all the time.

They also grow into polite thank-you notes followed by buyout checks. History carries both lessons.

But in Silverfield’s case, ESPN seemed to lean toward practicality.

“He knows how to run a program, recruit to a system, and develop stability — three things Arkansas needs right away,” Connelly said in the story.

Every SEC school claims to want stability until the first loss of the season, at which point stability becomes something they reminisce about the way people talk about the old family farm.

The road ahead for Silverfield

The ranking doesn’t decide whether Arkansas becomes competitive again. It simply sets the tone. And that tone is straightforward. The Razorbacks didn’t make the loudest hire, but they might’ve made one that fits the long-term work required.

As ESPN put it bluntly in its final assessment, “Silverfield might not lift Arkansas into contention quickly, but he gives the program a chance to stabilize.”

We've heard that a few times too many times to start detailing all of them.

It’s hard to argue with that. It’s also hard to sell that line to fans who want to see the Hogs snapping photos with trophies again.

But an old Southern columnist will tell you sometimes the man capable of steady work matters more than the man capable of stirring excitement.

If Silverfield can manage that steady work — the week-to-week, game-to-game grind that the SEC demands — that No. 24 ranking might someday feel more like a starting point than a ceiling.

Until then, Arkansas will try to enjoy this quiet corner of the carousel, where everyone nods politely, sips their sweet tea, and waits to see what the next season brings.

Key takeaways

• Arkansas’ hire of Ryan Silverfield ranked No. 24 in ESPN’s 2025 coaching-carousel list, marking a middle-tier evaluation.
• ESPN credited Silverfield for “a very solid job at Memphis,” including wins over several Power Four opponents.
• The ranking reflects a hire seen as “more stable than splashy,” matching Arkansas’ need for program rebuilding.