Two sets of fake news paved Silverfield's path to Arkansas

While Hogs fans will remember false report Golesh had accepted job, fake post about Memphis coach got ball rolling

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

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As hard as Razorbacks fans may try, the coaching search that led to Ryan Silverfield becoming the Hogs' head coach will always be remembered for the false report that South Florida coach Alex Golesh had accepted the job just days earlier.

However, for Silverfield and his family, it is an entirely different piece of fake news that will forever be the mental link to how the Memphis coach eventually landed in Fayetteville.

The afternoon before Memphis was to play Tulane in a key AAC game, Silverfield's phone began to blow up. He tried to ignore it and focus on us work, but by roughly 3 p.m., he saw he had over 120 text messages on his phone and decided something odd or terrible must be going on.

"It's really hectic for a head coach, but I look ... and I was like, I hope everything's okay," Silverfield said with his inaugural interview with "The Chuck and Bo Show" Monday morning. "And so I looked down at and I'm getting texts from general managers in the NFL, from coaches, 'I can't wait to join your staff.' And I was like, 'Man, this is, it's all fake.'"

The response was to a piece of well put together fake news put out by a fan that duped a lot of people into believing he had accepted the job at Arkansas. It even reached his wife, letting her know the Silverfields apparently needed to pack up their twin daughters' room to essentially start their developmental lives in Arkansas.

BREAKING: Ryan Silverfield has called a team meeting at 7pm to inform the team and staff he will be accepting the Arkansas job at seasons send. He will coach through the end of the year

Boosters made a strong push after Memphis’s win against USF

Sources tell me it’s for 5 years pic.twitter.com/sfIXUe7fiE

— Tyrone Billy Johnson (@TyroneBillyJ) November 6, 2025

"And then my wife was getting blown up, and so I didn't think anything of it," Silverfield said. "And then I go into the team meeting the next morning and my staff is like, 'Listen, Coach, you we've got to you've got to address this.' I'm like 'Guys, nothing's real,' but it's part of [the job]".

BREAKING: Arkansas and Ryan Silverfield are finalizing a 5-year deal to become the school's next head coach, @No3sports reports 🤯 pic.twitter.com/TIGJev5lmB

— Pete Nokos (@PeteNokos_) November 6, 2025

While it put things on edge around the locker room heading into the game, it provided Silverfield a certain amount of solace because it proved to him how much his players were bought into him and his coaching staff and how much they cared.

"We had some distraught players, which is a good thing," Silverfield said. "That means maybe they care about me and they want me to stay around. But it was unusual. I've never had to address leaving for a job, literally seven hours before kickoff, no excuses, no explanations."

While it was a moment that blew right past most Arkansas fans, for Silverfield, it was a premonition that provided an unprompted test run as to how things might play out should he be formally offered.

"Listen, it all came to fruition," Silverfield said. "Sometimes, maybe someone put that out there just to go ahead and get out there in the universe. But, man, we couldn't be more thrilled that it's tried and true. We're here and getting to work."

However, when the offer did legitimately come, the future Hogs coach admitted to Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek that the fake news post had actually made the decision even easier.

"I even told Hunter, 'You guys remember that when that fake news broke about a month ago that from some random fan that I had already accepted the job and was resigning from Memphis the next day,' and the number of coaches, the number of people that said, 'I want to join you,'" Silverfield said. "And I was like, 'Well, man, I can already tell this is when this thing does get offered, we're gonna be able to put together one of the best staffs in the country,'"

That one day of accepting the job without accepting the job gave him confidence he could put together a staff of character driven coaches who will fit in with the culture of Arkansas the way Silverfield hopes Razorbacks fans will see him as fitting.

"The staff is going to be something that the fans are going to love.," Silverfield said. "They're going to appreciate, they're going to love this community. They're going to give back. They're going to be Arkansas people. And one of the things I think is going to be so fun is, you know, a year from now, you guys are going to sit here and say, 'Man, did you guys all grow up in Fayetteville? Did you guys all play at Arkansas? Like you guys are so passionate about this thing.'"

Who all will be on that staff is coming somewhat into focus. While, as of Friday afternoon, no assistant coaches had been officially named employees of the university by the athletics department, word began to trickle out about a few assistants who may find themselves roaming the hallways of the Razorbacks athletics complex soon.

Former Memphis offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, Memphis wide receivers coach Larry Smith, Florida State running backs coach David Johnson and Florida defensive coordinator Ron Roberts all appear to have winds blowing in their favor for formally being named to the staff soon, with other coaches in talks, but nothing leaning as heavily for them yet.