Arkansas is set to hire Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield as its new football coach, sources confirmed to ESPN on Sunday.
Silverfield, 46, is 50-25 at Memphis, including a win over Arkansas in September and four consecutive wins against Power 4 opponents, including West Virginia and Iowa State in bowl games the past two seasons.
He replaces Sam Pittman, who Arkansas fired Sept. 28 following a 2-3 start, which included the loss to Memphis. Bobby Petrino replaced Pittman on an interim basis, and Arkansas lost its final seven games after Pittman’s firing.
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Silverfield has been at Memphis since 2016 and was promoted to the head coach role in December 2019 after Mike Norvell’s departure to Florida State. He coached Memphis in the Cotton Bowl that year and won eight or more games in four of his six full seasons with the Tigers. Silverfield coached Memphis’ offensive line from 2016 to 2019, after stops with the NFL’s Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, Arizona State and elsewhere.
He won all four bowl games he led Memphis to as the team’s permanent coach. Memphis went 6-2 in conference play in each of the past two seasons before finishing 4-4 this fall.
South Florida’s Alex Golesh had emerged last week as a potential target for Arkansas but instead was named the head coach at Auburn on Sunday, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
