Anonymous SEC coach on Arkansas under Ryan Silverfield: ‘Not considered a sleeping giant’
By Adam Spencer
Published:
It wasn’t long ago that the Arkansas Razorbacks were a force to be reckoned with. College football fans all remember those legendary backfields in 2006 and 2007 that featured Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis.
From 2006 to 2011, Arkansas won 8+ games in 5 of 6 seasons. The Hogs won 10+ games 3 times in that span. Since 2011, though, it has been a different story. Arkansas hasn’t won 10+ games since 2011, when it finished No. 5 overall in the postseason AP Poll.
The Hogs’ 9-4 mark in 2021 under Sam Pittman was their best record since then. Pittman, of course, lost his job this past season and will be replaced this fall by Ryan Silverfield, formerly of Memphis.
Will the Hogs fare better under Silverfield? An anonymous SEC coach quoted in an Athlon Sports piece doesn’t think so:
They’re not considered a sleeping giant. Ryan Silverfield is a great coach who might have taken the wrong Power 4 job at the wrong time.
What’s working against Silverfield in Year 1? A different coach said the Hogs’ schedule is absolutely brutal:
If you look at their SEC schedule, the nine teams that they have to play are pretty daunting, and then you add Utah. That doesn’t set up for Year 1 success. In this day and age, if you don’t have Year 1 success, narratives get forced upon you that you’ve gotta find a way to shake.
After starting the season with North Alabama, Arkansas’s next 5 games are: at Utah, vs. Georgia, vs. Tulsa, at Texas A&M and vs. Tennessee. That will be a tough welcome to the SEC for Silverfield.
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Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
