Silverfield makes first significant staff hire as Razorbacks' coach

What does new Arkansas latest football hire mean for future of program?

Coach Ryan Silverfield claps during a Memphis Tigers football spring game between the blue and gray team on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Simmons Liberty Bank Stadium in Memphis, Tenn. | Stu Boyd II-The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When a new head coach steps into a rebuilding situation, the first staff hire usually says more than any introductory press conference.

With Ryan Silverfield inviting Scott Gasper to travel down interstate 40 with him to Arkansas, as early reports suggest, then it's an early move indicating the Razorbacks administration are serious about a turnaround, although bringing the Memphis general manager across the state line does raise questions as to how he will fit in with the current structure led by Razorbacks general manager Remi Cofield.

“It became clear during our conversations that Coach Silverfield shares our vision of making the College Football Playoffs and competing for a national championship,” Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek said Sunday via 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."

Gasper's hiring isn’t a flashy on-field coordinator play, as those should be expected to come, considering the renewed financial commitment. While at Memphis, Silverfield and Gasper had some of the best resources in all the American Conference which included the No. 3 ranked recruiting class among Group of Five Conferences in this cycle behind Boise State and South Florida.

Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield is pat on the shoulder and back by fans that stormed the field after Memphis defeated Arkansas 32-31 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tenn., on September 20, 2025. | Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tigers signed a pair of impressive 4-star commits in the 2024 class in quarterback A.J. Hill (No. 145 overall) and wide receiver Xavier Johnson (No. 215 overall).

In modern day recruiting evaluations, Hill is the third-best player to ever sign with Memphis dating back to the 2001 cycle. The 6-foot-4, 215 pound passer has a rocket for an arm as he threw for 10,600 yards and 115 touchdowns in 49 career starts.

Should Hill enter the transfer portal and follow Silvrfield and Gasper to Arkansas, it would do wonders for the future of the Razorbacks' program.

Who is Scott Gasper?

Gasper served as the general manager for Memphis since February, but has experience running personnel departments at East Carolina, West Virginia, and Indiana. He even knows the ins and outs of Mississippi JUCO, serving as quarterbacks coach at East Mississippi Community College during its run to back-to-back national championships in 2013-2014.

He has extensive experience overseeing transfer-portal evaluation, compliance coordination, recruiting logistics, and roster planning which should cure a need that former coach Sam Pittman wasn't afforded.

While college football can't be all about chasing headlines, great fits for modern day general managers have become essential in the current era of roster fluidity.

Why This Move Is Significant for Arkansas

The Razorbacks are in desperate need of infrastructure moving forward, and that’s what the move to bring Gasper along signals.

Silverfield comes from a Memphis program that has long punched above its weight because it invested early in off-field staff, roster evaluation, and personnel support. Gasper was one of the people who helped maintain that engine.

Bringing him to Fayetteville would indicate that Arkansas is adopting an approach the Razorbacks have lacked for years: a true personnel department capable of managing high-school recruiting, the transfer portal, roster churn, and long-term roster planning.

Arkansas Razorbacks athletics director Hunter Yurachek on the sidelines during game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

Yurachek has already emphasized that Arkansas must win through the transfer portal. That requires advanced scouting — something Gasper has specialized in across multiple programs.

This is precisely the type of behind-the-scenes investment Arkansas hasn’t made consistently but must commit to if it wants to compete with the upper half of the SEC.

That matters for a Razorback program in need of immediate roster stabilization. Instead of waiting awhile to build a front office needed to run a modern program, Silverfield is focused on importing a structure that already works.

In the past Arkansas has often competed shorthanded on its football staff with fewer personnel staffers, thinner recruiting and scouting departments, and slower response rate to the transfer prtal and NIL.

Silverfield and Gasper arriving together indicates the exact commitment to closing the gap between the Razorbacks and other teams in the SEC.

Silverfield expected to bring along strength coach

Along with Gasper, Silverfield appears set to deliver Memphis strength and conditioning coach Noah Franklin. He has been name dropped by Silverfield in interviews as a key reason for his team's success during interviews over the years.

Memphis head strength and conditioning coach Noah Franklin is expected to be hired at Arkansas, sources tell @CBSSports.

The ex-Oklahoma State and NFL offensive lineman was Ryan Silverfield’s head strength and conditioning coach at Memphis the last six seasons. pic.twitter.com/X2vDjTsCIa

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 1, 2025

Much like Silverfield, Franklin brings an NFL connection to the Razorbacks after having previously worked for the Oakland Raiders prior to coming to Memphis.