Why This Arkansas Football Team Feels Different From Previous Restarts

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Over the past 15 seasons, Arkansas football has been a shell of itself.

While showing flashes of what used to be, nothing has stood the test of time competing in the evolving SEC.

The conference has changed drastically with a couple of footprint shifts into Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri while Arkansas has drowned in mediocrity with with less interest surrounding the 2026 season than perhaps ever before.

Chad Morris brought more optimism to the 2019 season after hauling in one of the top recruiting classes in the country. But that soured quickly when the season opener against Portland State offered more of the same.

Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver CJ Brown in spring practice. | Munir El-Khatib-allHOGS Images

From a perspective of covering the team daily, talking to coaches and players alike, this season feels different. It feels more like a fresh start than hitting the reset button coming off another failed project.

New coach Ryan Silverfield isn't taking over the mess Sam Pittman inherited either.

While the 2025 record shows 2-10 on everyone's screens, the Razorbacks' former head man finished his tenure with the Razorbacks at 32-34 overall (14-29 SEC) after being fired following a 56-13 loss to Notre Dame at home. That means the final seven games were pretty much a wash like it didn't even happen.

While Silverfield isn't going to completely ignore results from last season, he understands that's what national media perceive Arkansas to be. There aren't enough words he could say to possibly change someone's mind who doesn't cover the Razorback beat and he's ok with that.

Like he said at SEC Media Days:

"Keep doubting me."

The Razorbacks' coach has been mostly buttoned up when it comes to putting a label of expectations on this team, which is fair. He's not going to put an amount of wins on the table that his team needs to meet to reach expectations.

What he wants to do is take things slow and let the season develop in real-time before figuring anything out.

Arkansas Razorbacks running back Braylen Russell during spring practices. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

Less Talking, More Owning

There's no talk of "I've got a good team."

Or "we're close," "Hammer Down," or 'Full tilt boogie."

Coaches are preaching "OTB" (own the ball) and other things throughout practice to prioritize ball security. That's something the Razorbacks have been less than stellar with over the past few seasons.

Season	Turnovers
2020	13 (7 fumbles, 6 INT), No. 6 NATL*
2021	11 (6 fumbles, 5 INT) No. 9 NATL
2022	18 (11 fumbles, 7 INT) No. 57 NATL
2023	18 (10 fumbles, 8 INT) No. 63 NATL
2024	23 (14 fumbles, 9 INT) No. 120 NATL
2025	20 (11 INT, 9 fumbles) No. 107 NATL

* = COVID shortened season, Razorbacks ranked No. 6 among 83 teams that played at least eight games in 2020

During that same time period at Memphis, Silverfield's teams got better throughout his tenure at taking care of the football. He's talked about "OTB" endlessly, and it's something he seems to be about every single day.

That's one way to flip a losing culture, and Silverfield proved it at Memphis. A coach doesn't go 29-9 over his final three seasons without teaching his guys how to hold onto the football.

The Tigers committed 19 turnovers in 2020 (tied-No. 12, FBS), 19 in 2021 (No. 76, FBS), 16 in 2022 (No. 39 FBS), 15 in 2023 (No. 33, FBS), eight in 2024 (No. 2, FBS), and 12 in 2025 (No. 7, FBS).

It's worth mentioning that Memphis' final team under Mike Norvell finished No. 81 nationally with 20 turnovers despite going 12-2 overall.

“OK, so every coach in the country [says] take care of the ball, but...how does the team truly preach it, what ball security looks like? But you have to practice," Silverfield said at his opening press conference. "You have to talk about it and [talk] about it, and anytime that it shows up.

"I don't care if it's a Tuesday practice on August 6, if that ball security looks inadequate, you have to approach and you have to approach it right then. And the players have to understand there's a standard to ball security.”

It's very rare for a team with a losing record to actually lead the SEC in fewest turnovers committed in a single season, but that's exactly what Auburn did in 2025.

So, no, simply holding onto the football isn't going to magically turn Arkansas from a 2-10 team into an SEC contender. But that's not really the point.

It's all about eliminating one of the easiest ways to lose a football game before worrying about everything else required to win one. You know, the same reason Arkansas has a 17-49 record in one possession games dating back to 2012, including six such losses just last season.

Silverfield doesn't have the magic to erase any of those losses, to help change the perception surrounding a program picked to finish dead last in the SEC. What he can do is change how his players respond in those same tight fourth quarter games where owning the football matters most.

While limiting turnovers is just one of the many little things that can hold players to a certain standard, it can go a long way to solving key foundational issues that have plagued the Razorbacks for more than a decade.

That's why this program feels fresh at practice, hearing players and Silverfield talk during media opportunities, and less like another reset.

Silverfield hasn't spent much time trying to convince anyone Arkansas is suddenly fixed. He's not having his assistants oversell players or how far his team has come in a matter of 10 months.

He knows there's so much more work left to be done even before his Razorbacks team takes the field in three weeks. His focus on the foundational importance of football might feel a bit grade schoolish, but these days that's what it takes when bringing in more than 80 new faces to the locker room.

His focus is centered around standards, accountability and correction so much that the little things eventually become big things on Saturdays.

There will be plenty of maybes this season, just like there have been 49 "what ifs" in one-possession losses since 2012.

Maybe owning the football drills at practice helps turn a couple of those six one-possession losses from last season into a win, better situational football maybe flips another game.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield points during the spring game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Maybe demanding something be corrected during an August practice after consecutive reps keeps the same mistake from showing up with four minutes left against the likes of Utah, Tennessee, Auburn or South Carolina.

But just like the majority of teams outside the College Football Playoff discussion, nobody knows what Arkansas or anyone else is going to look like come Week One. Let alone is there a surety that so-and-so will be frontrunners at midseason.

That's why it feels like there's something noticeably different about the way Arkansas is going about its business in fall camp.

Keep doubting the Razorbacks.

They usually move better in silence anyway.

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