Ryan Silverfield has to be composed enough to stick to his guns in the pursuit of a clear-cut identity
It has been said more than once: If you don't know where you're going, you're not going to get there. It has also been said more than once: Aim high. Even if you fall short, you might still rise. Ryan Silverfield and Arkansas football are trying to balance these two concepts: Having a vision and, on the other hand, knowing that improvement might not instantly lead to the full achievement of every goal or target. Silverfield and other first-year head coaches have to blend aspirational dreams and realistic assessments. Dreaming big is good, but being sober about expectations and timetables is also necessary in a leader, especially at the beginning of a challenging tenure which tackles a daunting task.
College football analyst Josh Robinson explored this tension point, beginning with the point that not everyone can be Curt Cignetti's Indiana. Arkansas can shoot for the stars, but falling short of the IU standard isn't a problem -- not as long as Ryan Silverfield creates growth and progress and doesn't lose focus on the big picture:
"We need to see a few more underdogs win titles before we can start expecting it more often," Robinson wrote to us. "Smart ADs will understand this; bad ones will disregard it entirely. But what is a realistic expectation of a modern coach? At a minimum, coaches will be expected to bring a brand they can sell. Whether their brand is academic excellence and world-class recruiting or an exciting offense that produces points in droves, paired with a hard-nosed defense that creates countless turnovers and sacks, coaches will be expected to have multiple things that set them apart from their peers. Winning is simply not enough anymore. It’s also not enough to have one of these, probably not even two. The modern coach will be expected to have at least three defining characteristics at premier football schools.
"Ryan Silverfield recruits fairly well and wins a decent chunk of games. He also understands that you fit your scheme with the players you have, and not the other way around. He seems to truly grasp that the personnel at Arkansas isn’t going to lend itself to an air raid offense, and he will work to create an offense that fits the players he has. You don’t get many first-year coaches with that kind of common sense. This is a huge win for Arkansas. The big question is whether or not he will continue to do this if things aren’t working out. Many coaches talk a big game, but once the chips are down, they revert to type."
Ryan Silverfield has to stay the course. We will see him be tested on a whole new level in the SEC this fall.