As Arkansas turns the page to a new era under head coach Ryan Silverfield, the message from the new leader is clear: the Razorbacks must clean up the details if they want to return to winning football. And for Silverfield, two areas stand above all others, ball security and turnover margin.
In his introductory comments, Silverfield didn’t mince words about what he believes wins football games:
""At Memphis, we were over the last 10 years one of the best teams in the country at turnover margin, significantly more so the last five years. And that's important. That's how you win those games.""Ryan Silverfield
Silverfield’s track record backs that up. During his tenure at Memphis, the Tigers consistently ranked among the nation’s turnover leaders, and he plans to bring that same emphasis to Fayetteville.
A Much-Needed Fix: Arkansas’ Turnover Problems
Silverfield is right to make turnovers a top priority. Arkansas has been one of the worst teams in the country in this category for two straight seasons.
- 2025: Ranked 125th of 136 teams, turnover margin –11
- 2024: Ranked near the bottom again, turnover margin –8
Those numbers don’t just look bad, they directly translate to losses and they did. Arkansas’ inability to protect the ball and take it away has been a major factor in the program’s back-to-back losing seasons.
Meanwhile, the contrast with Silverfield’s Memphis program is staggering:
- 2024: +18 turnover margin (2nd nationally)
- 2025: +9 turnover margin (12th nationally)
Group of Five or not, numbers don’t lie. Silverfield knows how to coach ball security, how to build takeaway-minded defenses, and how to shift a team’s mentality around protecting the football. For Arkansas, that expertise is arriving at the perfect time.
Discipline and Penalties: Another Major Point of Emphasis
Turnovers aren’t the only issue Silverfield wants fixed. He immediately pointed to penalties as we being another area that cost the Razorbacks dearly in 2024 and 2025.
Arkansas ranked: 127th nationally in penalty yards per game (67).
Many of those yards came in two devastating performances:
- A record-setting penalty game vs. Mississippi State
- A penalty-filled loss in the season finale against Missouri
Across those two games alone, Arkansas committed 34 penalties for 314 yards, essentially giving away entire drives and field position. Giving any team that many additional yardage, never mind against the competition in the SEC, will lead to losses more time than not. Silverfield believes that improving discipline begins with improving leadership, both within the coaching staff and within the locker room. Clean football, in his eyes, is not optional but essential.
A Blueprint for a Quick Turnaround
Silverfield isn’t promising miracles, but he is promising accountability and a commitment to the fundamentals that directly affect wins and losses.
- Protect the football.
- Take the ball away.
- Play disciplined, consistent football.
These aren’t buzzwords, they’re the core traits his Memphis teams lived by, and the results were undeniable. Sounds easier said than done but that's why Silverfield was brought in. He has the track record of instilling this type of winning culture into his teams.
For Arkansas, a program searching for stability and a return to competitiveness in the SEC, these foundational principles could be exactly what sparks a turnaround. Silverfield believes cleaning up turnovers and penalties will lead the charge, and if his past is any indication, the Razorbacks may finally be heading in the right direction.