Ryan Silverfield's experience at Memphis was underwhelming, but it doesn't necessarily limit his ceiling at Arkansas
There is a real paradox at work in the story of Ryan Silverfield. Yes, he did not do a great job at Memphis. Good, sure, but not great. That's what predecessor Mike Norvell did (or at least, a lot closer to "great" than Silverfield came). Silverfield being less than spectacular at Memphis has quite reasonably created a lot of skepticism surrounding his ability to thrive at UA. Yet, Silverfield's Memphis experience doesn't close the door to the possibility he can actually be better in Fayetteville.
College football analyst Josh Robinson explained:
"As Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield begins his first year in Fayetteville, he’ll no longer have the cushion or leeway afforded to past coaches. That all went out the window this past Monday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami when Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti took the Hoosiers to an undefeated season and the school’s first national championship," Robinson told me. "Indiana, the school with the worst all-time winning percentage, went undefeated en route to a national title and a Heisman Trophy for quarterback Fernando Mendoza. That’s after going 27-2 in his first two seasons at said program. Put simply, the right coach and player grouping should be able to take any Power 4 school to a national title.
"I say Power 4 because we simply don’t have any evidence that a school from the Group of Five can accomplish this feat. People might forget that Indiana still has access to a large pool of money from the TV rights deal signed by the Big Ten. That’s money a G5 school won’t be able to access. That type of money, spent wisely, has proven to be capable of not just winning a national title, but dominating the nation en route to it. So, what does this mean for Silverfield and Arkansas?"
Robinson's point is specific and compelling. The notion that a Curt Cignetti-style transformation -- outhouse to national champion penthouse in two seasons -- can occur at a Group of Five school is a completely different conversation from the Power Four realm. Ryan Silverfield might not have maxed out at Memphis, but in this era of college football, Group of Five schools don't easily position coaches to hit grand slam home runs. At SEC schools, they have more of a chance.
The situation, as much as if not more than the coach himself, can determine what's possible. It's well worth thinking about heading into Year 1 of the Silverfield era at Arkansas football.