SEC Spring Meetings continue this week and expanding the College Football Playoff still dominates most of the conversation.
It’s the topic commissioner Greg Sankey keeps being asked about and every coach who steps behind a podium is asked about.
New Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield was one of those coaches. Sure enough, he was asked about playoff expansion. His answer was about as perfect as he could give.
“I’m new to the conference, so I sit back and say, ‘OK, let me see what’s going on, and then what makes the most sense?’” Silverfield said. “I still believe in the greater good of college football, so if it makes sense for everybody, then so be it. But there’ll be some type of expansion, we hope.”
That’s exactly the attitude Silverfield should be having. Yes, he should have an opinion about expanding the playoff. After all, whether his tenure in Fayetteville is deemed successful or not hinges completely on taking the Razorbacks to the CFP.
So, he should try and have his voice heard in those discussions. But behind closed doors and not standing behind a microphone.
New football coaches already have a lot going on and things to do. Building out a coaching staff, establishing a recruiting board and plan, retaining key players, moving a family to a new city and probably about a million other things we don’t see.
That’s what Silverfield should be doing. He should be working to taking Arkansas from the bottom of the SEC standings to the top. That task alone is hard enough without wading into the waters of playoff expansion.
Arkansas fans should be glad he’s taking that approach. They should want him focused solely on avoiding another winless SEC season, not putting his two cents in a debate.
Fans shouldn’t want him to be constantly talking on social media or doing major interviews every week like a certain somebody down in the bayou.
Also, how much sway would Silverfield even carry? He hasn’t coached an SEC game yet and is coming to Arkansas from Memphis, a program that was briefly in contention for a playoff spot but hasn’t come realistically close.
He’s not on the level of Kirby Smart or Steve Sarkisian. Nobody is breaking down Silverfield’s door to get his opinion. That comes after time and on-field success.
But, there’s one angle Silverfield can provide some insight into. He’s coming to the SEC from the American Conference, where the conference title game winner isn’t given an automatic spot in the CFP. He also has extensive NFL experience where teams do rest players late in the season, a concern for college football if playoffs are expanded and/or conference games are eliminated.
“You’re still playing nine conference games, and … you can line up against anybody in the SEC and it’s going to mean something,” he said. “I won’t mention names, but some of these other schools said, ‘Well, we know we’re going to the playoffs every year. Why wouldn’t we just schedule some FCS teams toward the back end so our starters don’t play so we can rest into the playoffs?’ Well, that’s a unique perspective.
“I think the SEC is too competitive, where I don’t think it’s going to become an issue.”
There’s no stopping the discussion about playoff expansion and every college football coach will be asked for his opinion. Silverfield appears to be taking the right approach, though.
He’s new and has a lot of other stuff to worry about. So, let other people figure out this mess.
