Ryan Silverfield must realize how badly he miscalculated

There is an old saying: "A word to the wise is sufficient." The meaning of the expression is that one note, one comment, one point, should be all a wise person needs to internalize and learn the lesson. Wise people don't need truths or instructions to be repeated. They will get it the first time. They don't need a second time.

Usually, this is how life works. We don't need to repeat ourselves or circle back to the same obvious point one or two days after previously making it. We write something on Sunday, we move on and focus on something entirely different or separate on Tuesday. Usually.

Not this time.

It has been noticeable how fully and forcefully Arkansas fans don't want to move on from the astoundingly cowardly decisions made by Ryan Silverfield late on Saturday against Tennessee. To be very clear and precise, I don't blame Arkansas fans for not wanting to move on.

They have a point, and it's a point worth amplifying. Writing about it only one time (on Sunday) seems insufficient. One word to the wise doesn't seem to be enough right now. We have to circle back and repeat our point so that it really sinks in and penetrates Ryan Silverfield's mind.

We said it Sunday: Ryan Silverfield has to ignore the game theory in certain situations and focus more on the need to instill belief in his team and his program. Sometimes, coaches need to make decisions not based on analytics or what "the book" says or what "the chart" recommends. Sometimes, coaches have to make decisions based on sending a message and challenging their guys. Sometimes, coaches have to set the right tone in the locker room and show the fan base they understand what is really up for grabs.

The commentary from a lot of people who follow Arkansas football over the past 48-72 hours has generally boiled down to this: Arkansas fans are starving for success and for a program which does everything it can to win. Running the ball on 3rd and 10 and later punting on a separate fourth down represents not firing every bullet in the chamber. Analytics be damned, Arkansas empirically did not use every last tool or opportunity at its disposal. For a program at the bottom of the SEC, fighting uphill and having nothing to lose, a coach needs to understand that being aggressive - even if the analytics recommend against it - matters more than "playing the percentages." Ryan Silverfield's failure to grasp that point in the larger context of Arkansas football's woes is the reality which has Hog fans rightly angry.

We are repeating and amplifying this point because Arkansas did actually improve against Tennessee. The Hogs played a competitive game against an SEC opponent, unlike Georgia and Texas A&M. We should be talking about the improvements, but we're not ... because Ryan Silverfield's coaching cowardice has dominated the headlines and has become the one thing everyone in Arkansas wants to talk about.

We are repeating ourselves this time just because Ryan Silverfield needs to see - and hear, and feel - the anger from fans and use that anger to teach him a lesson. 

It's not always about the analytics. Sometimes, a Hog has to trust his gut and think about the message more than the math. Hopefully, Ryan Silverfield has indeed learned his lesson.