Smart: 'Much Ado About Nothing' When It Comes To Silverfield's Georgia Comments

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Georgia coach Kirby Smart is aware of the comments that first-year Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield made during a media appearance in 2025 while he was still at Memphis.

Silverfield, known for his culture-first mentality with the Tigers, drew attention last September while at Memphis when he used Georgia's history of player arrests as an example of behavior that didn't meet his program's standards.

"We always start off with not our standard, [we] always start out with a negative," Silverfield said during his weekly TV show at Memphis last September. "The not our standard is, 'Georgia wide receiver arrested for driving 900 miles per hour over the speed limit. That's a weekly occurrence. So, that's one we'll show."

Ryan Silverfield from the top rope: pic.twitter.com/K5uIq1IEJf
— Jonah Dylan (@TheJonahDylan) September 16, 2025

In a day where videos and screenshots of zingers can go viral quickly, this one was remembered by Georgia and Arkansas fans alike because he was hired by the Razorbacks just weeks later.

While there was no public comment made by Georgia head coach Kirby Smart immediately following the incident, he was asked about that this week during a press conference with local media in Athens.

"That's much ado about nothing," Smart said. "He made a choice to talk about what he wanted to talk about. He apologized about it. I think he was talking about generalities. All coaches, we show things other schools do to make mistakes to try to educate our team. He's trying to educate his team and said what he said, but that's over and done with for me."

Just like any other coach, they are going to use that outside noise to get in the head of recruits and possibly even transfers to make their respective program look good.

Silverfield did address his comments at the podium during his first SEC Media Days appearance.

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart on the sideline during the game against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Sanford Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"When it happened, listen, I've got the deep, most respect for Kirby Smart and the Georgia athletic department and everything that he's about. Obviously, he's done it at a high level so certainly a lot of respect for him," Silverfield said. "When it occurred, I reached out to him. He's always been great to me.

"Even at my time at Memphis. He allowed us to come be a part of the camps. I think he knew that it was no ill will. Listen, I've got a lot of respect for him and what they're doing."

Fans will take it to social media and run with it because it fits the narrative and that Smart will use it as bulletin board material to motivate his players to perform at their full potential on Saturday.

That likely won't be neccesary, at least for this Saturday, since the Razorbacks are coming off a 43-10 road loss at Utah where they looked even more inept on offense than the week before.

Kickoff between Georgia and Arkansas is set for 11 a.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 19 at CommunityAmerica Razorback Stadium. The game will be broadcast nationally on ABC.

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