Ryan Silverfield can't be his own 2027 offensive coordinator

Given how bad the Arkansas football offense looked coming out of a two-week break against Missouri, it is entirely legitimate for UA football fans and analysts to wonder if Tim Cramsey should be retained as offensive coordinator. 

Everyone can agree that the performance and results are not remotely acceptable. When Arkansas' offense continues to play as poorly as it has, no one can say that Cramsey is doing the best he can. If there's a solution, Cramsey isn't finding it. If there's a code out there, Cramsey isn't cracking it. One problem and limitation, however, for this line of thought is that Ryan Silverfield is an offense-based head coach. He could call the plays and not even have to hire an offensive coordinator. However, what makes that decision more difficult (not less) for Silverfield is that if the head coach wanted to take over offensive play-calling, he is already stretched in terms of overall responsibilities. Silverfield needing to raise his own money to support his operation, part of the mess handed to him by athletic director Hunter Yurachek, would seem to indicate that Silverfield can't add another job to his already overflowing plate. 

Could Silverfield be a good offensive play-caller? In isolation, yes, but that's the whole point. Silverfield isn't doing offensive play-calling in isolation. He would be doing it in addition to raising money, in addition to recruiting, in addition to roster construction in the transfer portal, in addition to establishing his relationships with Arkansas-based high school coaches. Ryan Silverfield is simply not in a position to call his own plays. He needs to delegate assignments and needs helpers on his coaching staff who can make his life - his job - a lot easier.

Ryan Silverfield has to ask himself if Tim Cramsey is the right guy to help him in that task. Where the discussion becomes even more complicated is in identifying root problems. Is this more of a Tim Cramsey problem, or is the sad state of the Arkansas offense fundamentally a talent problem? If Arkansas is not going to fire Hunter Yurachek before the 2027 football season, and if UA will still have a lower-end level of spending money for transfer portal prospects, which would continue to limit the talent level on the roster in 2027, what would any offensive coordinator change achieve for Arkansas football?

We can all see how much of a puzzle this is. Firing an offensive coordinator might seem right, but the alternatives don't look a lot better.