Ryan Silverfield
By Chris Wright
Last Updated:
Arkansas hired Ryan Silverfield as its next head football coach. Silverfield replaces Sam Pittman, who was fired midway through the 2025 season.
Silverfield signed a 5-year contract through the end of the 2030 season. His average salary reportedly is $6.7 million.
Silverfield arrived from Memphis, where he went 50-24 in 6 seasons as the Tigers’ head coach. Memphis beat Arkansas in the 2025 season.
Ryan Silverfield Coaching Record
Ryan Silverfield will enter the 2026 season with a 50-24 career record. Here’s a yearly look at his coaching record.
Ryan Silverfield Coaching History
Ryan Silverfield began his coaching career at the high school level in 1999 before working his way up to an SEC head coaching job. Here is his complete coaching resume.
- 2025-: Head coach — Arkansas
- 2020-2025: Head coach — Memphis
- 2016-2019: Offensive assistant coach — Memphis
- 2015: Offensive line coach — Detroit Lions
- 2015: Offensive analyst — Arizona State
- 2014: Offensive consultant — Toledo
- 2011-2013: Offensive line assistant — Minnesota Vikings
- 2008-2010: Assistant coach — Minnesota Vikings
- 2006-2007: Graduate assistant — UCF
- 2005: Quarterbacks coach — Jacksonville University
- 2004: Head coach — Memorial High School (Savannah, Ga.)
- 2000-2003: Assistant coach — Hampden-Sydney College (Va.)
- 1999: Assistant coach — Bolles High School (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Ryan Silverfield Bio
Ryan Silverfield grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and played football at The Bolles School, where he was part of 2 state championship teams.
Silverfield went to Hampden-Sydney College, near Richmond, Virginia, but did not play football there. Instead, he joined the program as an assistant coach at age 20.
After graduating, Silverfield was named the head coach at Memorial High School in Savannah, Georgia. He spent 1 season there before returning to Jacksonville, where he spent 1 season at Jacksonville University as a quarterbacks coach.
After a 2-year stop at UCF, Silverfield accepted his first job in the NFL, as an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings. He was on the Vikings’ staff in various roles from 2008-2013.
In 2016, he went to Memphis, starting as an assistant coach before being named the Tigers’ head coach after the 2019 season. He replaced Mike Norvell, who became Florida State’s head coach.
Silverfield guided the Tigers to a bowl game in all 6 of his seasons as head coach, including 2025, before being named Arkansas’ head coach.
Silverfield and his wife have twin daughters.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
