Arkansas fans protest hiring of new HC Ryan Silverfield

Fans brought signs that said "Fire Yurachek", referring to Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek and wore paper bags over their heads during the small "protest" that ended just before 1 p.m. CT Sunday. 

Why are Arkansas fans upset? 

On Wednesday, a report from Arkansas radio host Trey Schaap indicated that Alex Golesh was set to become the next Head Hog. But on Sunday, Golesh was hired by Auburn. The announcement of Silverfield's hiring at Arkansas came shortly after it was reported that Golesh was going to be hired at Auburn. 

Silverfield had a respectable 50-25 record at Memphis in six seasons, but unlike Golesh, who had to rebuild a South Florida program that won four games from 2020-22, Silverfield was handed the keys to a Memphis program that hadn't won fewer than eight games since 2013. 

During Silverfield's time at Memphis, the Tigers never made the AAC championship game. In his last season in Memphis, Silverfield did manage to beat the Razorbacks 32-31 on Sept. 20, but regressed to 8-4 after winning 10 and 11 games, respectively, in 2023 and 2024. 

Silverfield has yet to prove that he can resurrect a program, which is what he'll be tasked with doing at Arkansas. The Razorbacks haven't had a winning season in Southeastern Conference play since 2015 and haven't won double-digit games since 2011.