David Pollack EXCLUSIVE CONVO with Arkansas Head Coach Ryan Silverfield

Summary

See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack

Episode: EXCLUSIVE CONVO with Arkansas Head Coach Ryan Silverfield

Date: February 19, 2026
Guest: Ryan Silverfield, Head Coach, University of Arkansas
Host: David Pollack

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Episode Overview

In this exclusive conversation, David Pollack sits down with Ryan Silverfield, the newly appointed head coach at Arkansas, for a candid and wide-ranging exploration of Silverfield’s remarkable coaching journey. They discuss Silverfield's unconventional career path, his commitment to developing young men, philosophies on culture and accountability, adapting to the new college football landscape, and his vision for elevating Arkansas football. The episode is rich in storytelling, earnest advice, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments that pull back the curtain on life as a major-college head coach.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Ryan Silverfield’s Coaching Journey

• Starting Young & Early Adversity

  • Began coaching at 18 after a neck injury ended his playing hopes.
  • Chose to coach rather than play at Hampton Sydney College (D3), becoming a defensive line coach at 20 while still a student.
  • “It was that rare deal, hey, you're a full time coach. You're supposed to be a full time college student. What do you really want to do? ... I said, I'm going to be a coach for the rest of my career, the rest of my life.” — Silverfield (01:47)

• Climbing Through the Ranks

  • Served as a head high school coach at 23 in Savannah, Georgia, then moved through every college level.
  • Worked seven years in the NFL (Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions) before a 10-year stint at Memphis and now Arkansas.

Philosophy & Approach to Coaching

• On Connecting with Players in Modern College Football

  • “I really got in to make a difference in young men's lives... When you can do that with 18 to 23 year olds, there's nothing better.” — Silverfield (03:30)
  • Despite NIL, the transfer portal, and rapid changes, Silverfield believes “you can still pour into these guys, you can still make a difference.”

• All-In Culture in an Age of Turnover

  • Focus on relationships and transparency with players.
  • “That buy in is part of what we are, right? It's not some stupid catchphrase. It's our culture. It's what our guys are about. It's the standards we're setting every single day." — Silverfield (05:04)

• Adapting to Change: COVID, Portals, NIL

  • Unprecedented adversity: Taking over at Memphis with just 15 days to prep for a bowl, then locked in the position as head coach just as COVID struck.
  • “During COVID, it’s not like I call up Coach Saban and say, ‘Hey, what did you guys do when COVID hit eight years ago?’ … Every year has been a different NCAA calendar.” — Silverfield (06:19)

Practical Challenges & College Football’s Need for Stability

• On Calendar Chaos and Structural Reforms:
  • Advocates for a consistent annual calendar to help coaches and athletes plan.
  • “If this year at least has the exact same calendar as last year, maybe I can structure things. At least maybe I can plan.” — Silverfield (09:14)
  • Supports one transfer portal window and the prioritization of players’ well-being.

Staff Building & Program Turnaround at Arkansas

• First Steps at Arkansas

  • Took over in a 48-hour whirlwind to sign a high school class, meet current players, and establish expectations.
  • “I said, I want you to love football and understand we're gonna have to be a little bit different here at Arkansas. We've got to get this place back to where it needs to be.” — Silverfield (12:53)
  • Not afraid to lose potential players who aren’t ready to embrace hard work and accountability.

• Defining “Different at Arkansas”

  • “If we do things the exact same way we did at Memphis, it's not going to be good enough... What's going to separate us?” — Silverfield (14:43)
  • Focus on setting new standards and cultivating a winner’s approach to overcome recent struggles.

Personal Insights & Lighter Moments

• Family & Staying Grounded

  • First call after accepting the job was to his wife, who swiftly reminded him his role at home (change diapers for their twin girls!)—a humbling moment.
  • “She goes, I don't give a darn. Go change some diapers and then come back and tell me all about it.” — Silverfield (16:09)

• Team Motto: Standards Over Feelings

  • Shared with pride, even if his wife warns him never to use it at home!
  • Host David reveals he’s used the same mantra throughout his life and coaching.

• Staff Choices: Loyalty & Trust

  • Brought his OC, Tim Ramsey, from Memphis due to a long-standing relationship and proven success.
  • Hired Ron Roberts as DC, after years of trying to land him and recognizing his defensive pedigree and SEC experience.

• Life Outside Football

  • Admits to being “pretty boring”—dedicates most of his time to family, is an occasional golfer, voracious reader, and former lover of pro wrestling.
  • “When your parents said, you want to go to college, you want to be a professional wrestler, you want to be a football coach? … I don't know if wrestling is for me. I appreciate it. Listen, I love the 80s wrestling…” — Silverfield (25:14)

• On Diet and Self-Discipline

  • Jokes about being on the “tomorrow diet” and weight fluctuations across the season.

• Embracing Arkansas Traditions

  • Confirms he can now properly call the Hogs: “Woo, Pig Sue. And we call the Hogs with the best of them.” — Silverfield (28:18)
  • Praises fans and the culture of buy-in and success across Arkansas sports.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On purpose in coaching:
  • “I mean this whole Harley and this is not coach speak, it's not a recruiting spiel, like really got in to make a difference in young men's lives.” (03:30)
• On challenges of modern college football:
  • “There's not been, especially the last seven years, a single year. We've had the same NCAA calendar, the same year. We've had the same rules and regulations. So it's constantly changing.” (06:19)
• On building toughness and culture:
  • “I believe hard work still takes care of things, but we're going to take care of our players… But I still believe, you know, how do you create a physical ball club? Time on feet in the offseason...” (11:25)
• On his family’s priorities:
  • “Congrats on the job, but you're still dad. Go change some diapers.” (16:09)
• On standards and personal mottos:
  • “I was like, guys, I don't care how you feel. Like, there's a standard. Your feelings are changing. My standard isn't.” — Pollack (17:31)
• On staff loyalty:
  • “He just said, listen, I'm going to be kind of loyal to you, Ryan, and we'll see… if it means the next steps at Arkansas, I'd love to join you.” (21:51)
• On the Arkansas turnaround:
  • “What's going to be different about us? ... I just want our guys to have that, that mindset going in and get rid of this losing mindset. Hey, let's have a winner's approach.” (14:43)
• On learning Razorback traditions:
  • “It's been fun. ... My job is to get this football program elevated back. But yeah, we know how to call the Hogs now.” (28:18)

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Segment Timestamps

• 01:15 — Silverfield’s start in coaching, early adversity
• 03:09 — Range of coaching experience and philosophy on player impact
• 05:04 — “All in” culture, overcoming turnover with relationships and transparency
• 06:19 — The hardship of COVID, transfer portal, and continuous NCAA changes
• 09:14 — The need for a consistent college football calendar
• 12:53 — First steps as Arkansas head coach, setting expectations
• 14:43 — What must be “different” at Arkansas to succeed
• 16:09 — Family reaction, humility at home, “standards over feelings”
• 21:51 — Decisions on coordinators and assembling his staff
• 24:04 — Life outside of football, reading, golf, and “the wrestling thing”
• 26:11 — Eating habits and season routine
• 28:18 — Arkansas culture, calling the Hogs, goals for the program

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Final Thoughts

This episode paints Ryan Silverfield as a coach deeply committed to growth, honesty, and player development, willing to grind and adapt in a fast-changing college football landscape. Listeners come away with new appreciation for the human side of program rebuilds and the steadfast values—even humorous humility—that undergird effective leadership, both on and off the gridiron.

“Let's have a winner's approach and, and hopefully equates to doing better week in and week out.” – Silverfield (14:43)

Transcript

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[David (Interviewer)]

Good to go? Yes, sir. All right, and next on our series, remember, we want to have every coach that took a job in the power for Ryan Silverfield. Coach, you got a cool story, a cool backdrop. I kind, I kind of went down a rabbit hole reading your story. But like, you got to take me back to the coaching career and how it started. I read about the dungeon gym. Like, I read about all kinds of stuff about you being 18 years old, starting coaching. Like how did coaching become a part of your life?

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah, David, you went way back. Thanks for having me on today. But yeah, you're talking way back in the late 90s. So I started coaching spring of my senior in high school. Had a neck injury, you know, wasn't good enough to play anywhere major. And so really started coaching when I was 18 years old and then went to a small college in Virginia called Hampton Sydney College, a D3 school. Never the intent to play football just to possibly start coaching. And at the age of 20, the coach there hired me as a defensive line coach. So it was that rare deal, hey, you're a full time coach. You're supposed to be a full time college student. What do you really want to do? And so made the decision. I said, I'm going to be a coach for the rest of My career the rest of my life. And it was a young coach. My college lifestyle was quite different. And then, you know, through there I was a 23 year old head high school coach in Savannah, Georgia. And then just fortunate, just put my head down, grinded and now worked at every level of football.

[David (Interviewer)]

Every level of football, including seven years I think in the NFL. I'm not going to ask you what positions you've coached, coach. I'm going to ask you what position haven't you coached.

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah, let's claim this. I'm not very good with the kickers and punters. I, I just told them to make it and then punt it far. Like I don't. The details on those positions, I don't know. But you're right, I mean I've coached quarterbacks, O line, D line, I've coached them all. You know, what do I prefer? Whatever, whatever's the best position on the field that day.

[David (Interviewer)]

That's what I, well that makes it, that makes it pretty easy. So, so you're learning your coaching career. What, what like college, NFL, high school, like I guess what did you like about all of them? And, and why, why college is the destination as opposed to spending. We see a lot of coaches now coach going from college to the NFL.

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah, no question. So you know, coaching high school was great, you know, doing a young age and I loved, you know, for a while I said maybe I'm just going to be, you know, the head high school coach in Georgia that's there for 30 years, collects a pension, retires in that great state. But ultimately I just said I want to keep moving up the ladder and you know, I was able to do it at the FCS level D3 like we talked about and then ultimately get my foot in the door, Division 1 and then got my, it got at a young age, in my late 20s, I got in with the Minnesota Vikings, kind of climbed the ladder there and then was with the Detroit Lions. 10 years at Memphis and now here at Arkansas. But I think what's happened, everybody says, well don't you miss the NFL? There's certain things about the NFL that are great. Don't get me wrong, it's strictly football, those things. But when I got in this profession, and I mean this whole Harley and this is not coach speak, it's not a recruiting spiel, like really got in to make a difference in young men's lives, like man to develop, to teach, to coach, the passion and really when you can do that with 18 to 23 year olds, there's Nothing better. And people say, well, that's, that's kind of been lost art in college football. I disagree. You know, I truly believe that, you know, as much as Nil's involved in Rev Share and Transfer Portal, like you can still pour into these guys, you can still make a difference. And I found that the college level, it doesn't matter if you're coaching the SEC, the American, wherever, Division 3, you can still pour into these young men and make a difference.

[David (Interviewer)]

So how do you do it, coach? How do you do it? Now, I've read some of your sayings, you know, all in. How do you get people to be all in when, when there is an ability to leave quickly and there is so much turnover on rosters nowadays.

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah, no question. I think that's, we know that that's part of it. And I think, you know, any coach that says it's not going to happen, my program, it doesn't matter where you're at, but I still believe in the relationship aspect, being transparent with the guys and saying, hey, this is what it's going to be about. And I tell every kid we recruit, even here at Arkansas, like, we're going to have to outwork people, we're going to have to be fully committed. You know, we talk about being all into the task, whatever that looks like, we're going to go to class, we're going to hold your butt accountable. And that, that buy in is part of what we are, right? It's not some stupid catchphrase. It's, it's our culture. It's what our guys are about. It's the standards are setting every single day. And so ultimately, right, you just say, hey, this is what it's all about. And if we do this thing, it's going to eventually lead to wins on Saturdays and you know, they're going to be happy with the, the process that's going on here at Arkansas and, and hopefully we retain the type of guys and the type of young men we want in this locker room.

[David (Interviewer)]

All right, so I want to go to your head coaching. You know, you're, you're the head coach at Memphis. I think you had 15 days to prepare. So you had a lot of, lot of time to prepare for the, for the bowl game in 2019. And then you're the full time coach and Covid hits. So like, I can't think of a worse way to start a head coaching career than that time.

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah. So my, how about this? So I got named, I was interim head coach for a week and interviewed for the, my own job and then got the head job. And then my first game as a college head coach. My first game as the head coach was actually versus Penn State and the Cotton bowl. And they had a linebacker named Micah Parsons. And I didn't realize how good he was until he was chasing. I mean, you know, we scored a lot of points, but we end up losing that game. So we had that 01 record on my deal for, you know, 300 days or whatever it had been, you know, 265 days, I hated it. Until we could finally get that first win. And then. You're exactly right. You're. You're talking about preparing and doing it and then covet hits. And now, you know, it's one of those things like during COVID It's not like I call up coach, save and say, hey, what did you guys do? You know, when Covid hit eight years ago, right? It couldn't call Mike Norvell up. I couldn't call. You know, there was no one with this experience. Now all of a sudden, hey, what's this thing about this transfer portal, right? Guys had left and gone to other places. Oh, now there's nil and now. So every year, and I've said this, this is now my seventh year as a head coach, my 28th year in coaching. There's not been, especially the last seven years, a single year. We've had the same NCAA calendar, the same year. We've had the same rules and regulations. So it's constantly changing.

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[Ryan Silverfield]

I can sit here, complain about it, right? There's a lot of head coaches that boo hoo and cry from their yachts. Or we can sit here and say, man, all right, what are the opportunities? And we're excited about the opportunities, not just challenges here at Arkansas.

[David (Interviewer)]

I don't see as a yacht guy. Coach. I don't see as a yacht guy.

[Ryan Silverfield]

No, no. Before I will.

[David (Interviewer)]

But, but, but what would you say about this? What would you say though? Like, what could we change about college football to make it easier?

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah, I think first and foremost, I, I think, listen, I'm all for whatever benefits the players. I can't sit here and be the old school coach. I, I hate this. I hate that. I think having a calendar that sticks the same. Just going back to what we just talked about, David, is like, man, if this year at least has the exact same calendar as last year, at least maybe I can structure things. At least maybe I can plan. And as a head coach, you want to be as organized as you can. I owe it to my staff, I owe it to my players to at least be organized. And if I know what next October is going to look like, if I know that there's only one portal window and these are the dates in January. Cool. It may be hectic, it may be terrible at the time, but at least we know what it is. I can plan and we can act accordingly. But if it changes, then that's going to have to. Okay, now, do we move spring ball here or practices looking like this? What are OTAs now? And so I think just keeping the calendar for the same. So we can judge and say, okay, does this work well for academics? Does this make sense for our student athletes? And then. Right. I don't have all the answers. We could, we could talk for, you know, the next 24 hours about all the things we wanted to do with college football. I figured they'd make you the commissioner of all college football, David. You tell us, you know, how to act accordingly and what it should look like. But, you know, I'm all for the players, but I do think one portal window makes sense. I would love to be able to. The more we can just keep this thing Organized. I like guys that are able to kind of stay committed to a place and see the longer we can do that. I'm all for that. Developing guys and make a place called home for a long time.

[David (Interviewer)]

Yeah, I think there's. It's crazy to think about like the NFL saying, hey, let's do the combine, the draft, free agency, coaching hires and the playoffs all at the same time. Like, that's a heck of an idea. Like, that's the equivalent of how stupid this calendar has become. I love that we got the 1:1 portal window. I would personally change it when it's not as close to high school recruiting. Like, that seems to seem to. Would make a lot of sense. Are you one of those guys, like Signetti had a bunch of quotes out there this, this offseason or this past season at the end, like, he was one of those guys that, like, he didn't believe in a lot of time in the building. Like, didn't believe in a lot of time on the field. Is that Ryan or are you a. Are you a quote unquote, old school grinder?

[Ryan Silverfield]

I'd say by nature this, like people say, are you an NFL coach? Players coach. We're gonna be smart, we're gonna take care of our guys. But I'm the only way I knew to do it right. Like, and Insignetti, let me talk about, like not being a lot of time in the office, but he's also the first to admit he's there at midnight. He's the first one in the office, you know, and he talked about when he first got the Indiana, he never saw the entire City for three months because he was grinding to 1am so I'm an old school grinder. I believe hard work still takes care of things, but we're going to take care of our players, right? Like, if it means lessening practice to an hour and a half, as he'd mentioned, if it means, you know, taking care of their bodies, we got to listen to them. If we got guys are beat up and bruised and it's November and we got a chance to keep playing meaningful football, we're going to take care of them as well. So I think all that stuff's important. And I not sit here and say, this is the way I've always done it, the three hour practice and we're going to grind them and beat them. No, but I still believe, you know, how do you create a physical ball club, Time on feet in the off season? You know, what we do in the weight room right now, it all plays a major factor in it.

[David (Interviewer)]

So when you were making the jump and you're coming from Memphis, coach, like, first of all, you beat Arkansas last year, so that was a good walking in the door. You probably had some bragging rights with some guys. You're probably like, just don't forget. Yeah, we can't. We came. Took care of business. So when you. When you come to. To Arkansas, like, what was step one, man? Like, what were the. What were your first two, one, two, three things? Like, I got to implement this, I got to implement that, or maybe something too. You did differently.

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah. So first it was a whirlwind. Like any coach that took over these jobs, right? 48 hours to sign a high school signing class. Right? Like, here we go. Perfect. Yeah. Exactly. Two days to, hey, introduce myself and convince them why they need to come to Arkansas and tell us all about the academics. Tell. Let me learn on the fly. But, you know, then get. Getting to know the. The current players and I think more anything, you know, with all the things that every new head coach. I know you said you're meeting with every new Power 4 head coach. There's quite a long list. So you. But I think all of us went through that same hectic period of what this looks like. But you know, what I did is every single kid I met with even guys that were talking about, hey, coach, I want to come back. I'm thinking about leaving. I looked them straight in the face, I said, understand this. And kids were recruiting out of high school in the portal, you know, gonna come here and we're gonna. We're gonna work. And I. And I don't want you to be afraid of the work. I want you to love football and understand we're gonna have to be a little bit different here at Arkansas. We've got to get this place back to where it needs to be. There's a reason something has gone on the last few years has not allowed us to have the success. And it's my job. So this is not a. A blame game. This is not a. A wo is me. This is, hey, how do we get Arkansas back on the map? And whoever I'm meeting with, whether it's a staff member, a coach, a high school player, again, a transfer, portal guy, we're gonna have to work and we're gonna hold each other accountable, and we gotta raise this thing to a new level. And I think some people sat there and said, yeah, I want to be a part of that. That sounds exactly what I'm all for. We're gonna work hard in the weight room. Okay, that sounds good. But one or two of them sat there and said, wait, you're gonna make us work harder, you're gonna make us go to class? And I said, cool. You've already told me you're not the right fit for us. Go play for an opponent that hopefully we get to line up against this year.

[David (Interviewer)]

I like that, like, make no bones about it. When you say, when you say it's got to be different at Arkansas, what does that mean?

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah, I think, listen, you know that always credit to the people in the past that have helped build this thing to get it to where it is. But what's going to be unique about us because if we do things the exact same way we did at Memphis, it's not going to be good enough. If I'm the same head coach I was last last few years, that's not good enough. Right? Our coordinators, you know, every single person, the players like, what are we going to do to improve ourselves on a day to day deal? And that's the process that's, you know, going in, out, but you know, we have to be, because when we line up against your alma mater in the first SEC home game here, like, I don't know what the talent, you know, disparity may look like, but I know they got a ton of talented players. I know they got, they got a, a future hall of Fame coach. Right. I understand those things. So what's going to separate us, right, on February 16th? What's going to separate us in April? Right? What are we doing this summer from all of our opponents from week one all the way through, they, we get to play football this year. What's going to be different about us? And so I want our guys to have an understanding and not just the hay, the chip on the shoulder, because that only lasts so long. But maybe we're built a little bit differently. Maybe we act a little bit differently. Maybe that means studying more film. Maybe that means, you know, making better decisions and everything we do. And I just want our guys to have that, that mindset going in and get rid of this losing mindset. Hey, let's have a winner's approach and, and hopefully equates to doing better week in and week out.

[David (Interviewer)]

When you got the job, what was the, who was the first call you made?

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah, so, yeah, drove home and like, like all good men, I had to ask my wife, she said, she tells me now that I didn't ask for permission to go to the job because she told me this is the one she wanted. But okay. Yeah. So that at least I knew this is the job she wanted, which was. Makes it easier. So told her. And, you know, she immediately, we've got. We have two identical twin girls. So I started later in life. They're 1 years old. And she said, hey, that's great. Congrats on the job, but you're still dad. Go. Go change some diapers. And I said, wait a second, I just got the head coaching job. So she goes, I don't give a darn. Go change some diapers and then come back and tell me all about it. So I love that. That's.

[David (Interviewer)]

Hey, we got to have that spot where we're still being humbled and we're still being told what to do. Hey. She's like, hold on. You tell everybody what to do all day long. You walk in my house.

[Ryan Silverfield]

Exactly. Hey, I make no bones about it. Right? We know who the boss is. I go home, it's the salute. Yes, ma'.

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[Ryan Silverfield]

What do I need to do? She goes, lose your attitude at the door. Loses. You know, she hates my quote that we have up on the building somewhere that I just put up, says, standards over feelings. She says, if you ever say that to me, enjoy sleeping outside for a few weeks. And so I go home, I drop it. And now I go home to the Estrogen palace.

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[Ryan Silverfield]

With two young girls and. And a female dog. It all works out.

[David (Interviewer)]

Yeah. At least get a male dog. I kind of have my mouth open, by the way, because that's something that I put on our youth league T shirts for years, is standards over feelings. Like, and again, I had the injuries in the NFL and stuff. I'm like, guys, I don't care how you feel. Like, there's a standard. Your feelings are changing. My standard isn't like, we're gonna do it my way. Like, that's. That's one of my favorite, favorite sayings.

[Ryan Silverfield]

I love it. You know, and I always say this, like, it. Obviously, it correlates so well in. In sports, but, like, man, I always wondered, could you go through and, like, work at State Farm and sell insurance and go around telling people, like, yeah, standards over feelings. You know, as you're going cubicle to cubicle or whatever it is, the other aspects of work, you know, would they ever put that up at the. The, you know, Walmart based here where I was in Memphis with FedEx, like, standards over feelings? I don't know how that. Well, that'd be perceived, but I love it.

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[Ryan Silverfield]

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[David (Interviewer)]

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[Ryan Silverfield]

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[Ryan Silverfield]

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[David (Interviewer)]

I mean, I kind of like it. I think it would work. I think it could work for anything. So what about, okay, you took care of your wife, but who's the first person you called then?

[Ryan Silverfield]

Well then, yeah, immediately. Then called family and just let them know, you know, we're very fortunate that you Know, my folks have always been so heavily involved in my life and called them and my brother and the rest of my family kind of shared that with them and then it was okay, that's great. Now I better hurry up, pack a bag, get to my office. You know, being at Memphis for 10 years, there's an accumulation of a lot of stuff like, love it. What, what, what are the five things I need to hurry up and grab? It's like, hey, the house on fire. I got an hour to grab what I can. All right, grab that, get back and then, you know, it's a rapid fire deal. Right. I had to meet with our staff, meet with the players, some great memories there. Certainly owe it a lot to the, the players there and the administration at Memphis. For me allowing to be in the seat today and so then thanking them and then getting straight over Fayetteville, you know, 12 hours later and meeting this team and rolling well.

[David (Interviewer)]

And then, and then what, what went into your, what did your decision making look like for your start with your offensive coordinator? How did that, obviously bringing him from Memphis with you? How did that, did you know that right away that's what you wanted to do?

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah, David, I think, you know, you get a job of this magnitude and it's always one of those everybody says, well, you know, it's SEC job, you got to go with this guy, go. And so you have ideas and thoughts, but, you know, Tim's a guy. Ramsey is a guy that I'd worked with in the past. I had great trust with a great relationship, great rapport, and we really have been fortunate to have one of the better offenses in college football the last few years during our time at Memphis, all the way even leading back years prior. And he's a guy that had been offered SEC coaching opportunities as an oc, right, at multiple places and turned them down. He offered multiple Big 12 opportunities. He just said, listen, I'm going to be kind of loyal to you, Ryan, and we'll see if it means we're at Memphis for a long time, if it means the next steps at Arkansas, I'd love to join you. And it just made sense in the time. And he does a fantastic job.

[David (Interviewer)]

That's awesome. That's pretty cool to hear that Bond. I've heard some coaches this, this past offseason be like, hey, I don't hire my friends. And it wasn't about relationships, it was about, you know, getting the job done. That sounds like that's pretty special. What about Ron Roberts bringing your DC over from bringing him over from Florida.

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah. So, Ron, believe it or not, we told the story the other day is. So when I was the head coach at Memphis, I actually tried to hire Ron. He was the D coordinator, Louisiana Lafayette under Billy Napier. Okay. And I tried to hire Ron at Memphis. He came, interviewed with me. He said, big coach, surf, I want to come work for you. I think it's going to be great. I think, you know, you got a bright future, be a part of what you're building at Memphis. And then came the contract language. I said, I can't afford your buyout. And so then he ended up at Baylor, all right. With Dave Randa. Then he went to Auburn and he went to Florida. So I'd been following his path and understood, like, man, there's so many coaches out there, right? Pete Golding at Ole Miss run his defensive scheme like he, you know, he's got so many disciples that run the Ron Roberts scheme. And, you know, he's had success and. And done the right way. And so when I got this job, I thought it, you know, with his SEC background, with his experience, with his understanding this conference and what he brings to the table as far as a resume and, you know, just kind of having that veteran voice, I think you can never lose that, even though I've done this thing for a while and so excited to have Ron here with us as well.

[David (Interviewer)]

What would your. What would your family say is your. Is your favorite things to do outside of football?

[Ryan Silverfield]

They sound pretty boring. I. I am. They're not. You know, this is not one of these. I'm a boring coach. All I do is watch football. No, it's just. There's not a whole lot of time. Right. I got two young kids at night when. When everybody gets quiet, I. Before I go to bed, I put. Read a book. I do, you know, basic stuff, man. I, you know, try to swing the golf club maybe six or seven times a year in the off season.

[David (Interviewer)]

Hard to get good swinging it that many times.

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[Ryan Silverfield]

No one ever said I was good. I. I swing the club. I think that's the proper way to do it. No one's ever accused me of being on the golf course too much, for sure. But you guys know how this is. We give so much of time to this, you know, there's no unique hobbies. I wish there were, you know, maybe in 15 years or something when I'm on the lake in Georgia with you, but that's about it.

[David (Interviewer)]

Be you be. You'll be hunting and fishing. But CC Ryan, this is where the the research comes in handy now. I hear you like this wrestling stuff.

[Ryan Silverfield]

I got figured out who, who, who broke in on that one, man.

[David (Interviewer)]

I mean, how much, how much? I hear, I hear wrestling's been a big part of game day. I've heard all kinds of stories about you and the love for wrestling, so.

[Ryan Silverfield]

You must have gone way in the past. The last person that did that much research was a guy named Jared Allen who just went to the hall of Fame. And he's pretty good. Yeah. When I was with the Vikings, him and I became very close. And, you know, he came and stayed with us last year in Memphis. But let's just say this, it was part of my past. It may have been something that I partaked in a little bit. And you know, as when your parents said, you want to go to college, you want to be a professional wrestler, you want to be a football coach? I said, well, maybe I'll get a degree and be a football coach. I don't know if wrestling is for me. I appreciate it. Listen, I love the 80s wrestling, the 90s, you know, but I have no idea what's going on now with it. But I appreciate the old school stuff, the Ultimate Warrior, those guys back in the day, because it was fun. Always dreamed, you know, maybe one day being one of those type of guys. But cooler heads prevail. And now I get to talk to you.

[David (Interviewer)]

Now you get to coach, which is cool. Are you, are you a healthy eater?

[Ryan Silverfield]

Great question. No, not in any way, shape or form. So.

[David (Interviewer)]

So you just like to eat a healthy amount.

[Ryan Silverfield]

That's. Yeah, right. I tell my, you know, we talk about being on the tomorrow diet. That's what I've been on for about 20 years. Here's the deal. I will gain in the off season. I'm one of the opposites of a lot of these coaches, right? I actually, in the off season, I gain a ton of weight because I now I've got time at 10 o' clock at night, die screen, right? If it's a Saturday night and I, and I, oh, let's see what kind of bourbon I have laying around, right? Like, but during the season, it's lunch and dinner. That's it. Whatever's provided, whatever's in front of me to eat while watching film. There's no alcohol, there's no sweets. And so I'm one of those, like, I will literally, I'll fluctuate like this pasture. When I took this job, I was like £188, which I hadn't weighed in a Long time. And before you know it, I'll be up to like 220. So it's one of those deals.

[David (Interviewer)]

All right, so we've, we've, we've learned a lot about you, coach. You know, opening up your, your SEC play with, with Georgia. You talked about that, like, has. How many people have said something about your Georgia comment now, like, after. Because obviously you had no clue. And I didn't take it any kind of way. Like you were taking shots. I thought I take. I took it like you were kind of like just busting balls. That's what you do with a bunch of dudes when you're hanging out. But as people said that now that you're taking on George as your first opponent.

[Ryan Silverfield]

Yeah, listen, if that's headliner material for them, then it is. I mean, listen, I've got so much respect for that program and Coach Smart, I think it was more of a. I was on my radio show at Memphis and just talking about, hey, this is an educational piece like I've done. I could have easily named 30 other programs in the country and it just literally would happen to be one of the headlines that we had used prior. And so I don't think anybody needs the newspaper material. Right. It is what it is. And clearly they do a great job winning football games, so we got to do our best to keep our guys out of trouble and find ways to, to compete at the highest level of like, they've done.

[David (Interviewer)]

No doubt. Coach, we appreciate your time. We appreciate getting to know you, man. Have you learned. Have you learned how to say whoopig suey now? Have you been taught that correctly?

[Ryan Silverfield]

Woo, Pig Sue. And we call the Hogs with the best of them. It's been, it's been fun. You know, I think so many of the great things around here is like, you know, being able to go watch our basketball team. Right. With Coach Cal, who was at Memphis prior to me. Their success, I mean, you know, top 10 baseball team, top 10 gymnastics. I mean, all of the things. It's kind of cool here because they've all bought in. All the sports have been dynamic and so kind of being into a unique college atmosphere here. It's been fun. And again, my job is to get this, this elevator. Our job is to get this football program elevated back. But yeah, we know how to call the Hogs now.

[David (Interviewer)]

Yeah, the fans are awesome there, man. They're. They, they show up. They're always excited. Obviously they're passionate. Best of luck to you, coach, in your first season. And thank you so much. Very, very appreciative for you taking some time getting to know coach Ryan Silverfield of Arkansas, the new head football coach.

[Ryan Silverfield]

David, thanks for having me on man. Great catching up with you and I look forward to see you here in the new future you demand.

[David (Interviewer)]

Dog.

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[Matthew Collar]

Hey football fans, Matthew Collar here of the Purple Insider podcast. Every day I take you inside the Vikings locker room, breaking down every game, every move, and all the ups and downs that go along with following one of the most fascinating teams in the NFL from a beat reporter's perspective. Tune in daily to hear different voices talk about the team, from former football players to analytics experts to fan Q&As. I've even got a fantasy show, All Things Vikings in One Spot on Purple Insider. Be sure to listen on Apple or Spotify.

[David (Interviewer)]

If you like the show, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow.

[Ryan Silverfield]

Thank you for listening.