Silverfield keeps raising money as Yurachek’s promise falls short

Ryan Silverfield spent last offseason doing something most football coaches never signed up for.

He wasn’t just drawing up plays or building a depth chart. He was out shaking hands and asking for money for a program that badly needs it.

Now the season’s under way and he’s still at it. What exactly has Hunter Yurachek been doing while his head coach carries so much of that load?

That raises a fair question for the man who runs the athletic department. Razorback men’s basketball with John Calipari has its own system in place as does baseball coach Dave Van Horn. Considering the track record they probably don’t want Yurachek anywhere near it.

Silverfield said before the year even kicked off that he’d spent roughly 75% of his offseason working the phones for donations. That’s a massive chunk of time for a first-year coach who also had to build a roster in about a month.

The results haven’t caught up yet.

A report from The Athletic last week put Arkansas’ roster in the $22 million to $25 million range, dead last among SEC programs.

The numbers still tell a different story

Kentucky and Vanderbilt spend more. Texas, LSU, Texas A&M and Ole Miss aren’t even close to the Hogs’ amount.

Silverfield didn’t dodge the topic Monday in his press conference.

“We spent a lot of time this past offseason raising money,” he said in what may be a massive understatement.

He added that he believes in his roster and that the Razorbacks plan to compete every week no matter the budget gap.

That’s about all a coach can say, much like Calipari’s social media video supporting Yurachek. It’s politically correct.

Some of that money already shows up around the stadium, like the new video board.

Silverfield also noted the NCAA puts limits on how NIL money and All-In Fund dollars can actually get spent, which slows down how fast fans see results.

Yurachek’s promise still hasn’t shown up

It’s worth remembering what Yurachek said the day he hired Silverfield. He claimed the financial backing in place had Arkansas positioned in the “top half of the SEC.”

That claim looks a long way from where the Hogs actually sit right now.

Yurachek has admitted before, including in comments to the Little Rock Touchdown Club last year, that the department’s financial picture wasn’t strong.

Saying it out loud and fixing it are two very different things though.

Pressure built enough last week that the university’s Board of Trustees adopted a resolution calling for a full review of the athletic department’s competitiveness, with football getting specific attention.

Here’s the part that should bother fans most. By kickoff of Saturday’s game, Yurachek reportedly hadn’t even talked with the Board or the university president about what that review would cover.

ESPN sideline reporter Taylor McGregor said Yurachek told her he had no thoughts to share yet because those conversations hadn’t happened.

ABC/ESPN sideline reporter Taylor McGregor before Arkansas Razorbacks against the Georgia Bulldogs at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

No answers when it mattered most

“I did catch up with athletic director Hunter Yurachek before the game asking him his thoughts,” McGregor said from the sidelines on ABC while the Hogs were down 31-3 at the start of the fourth quarter. “He said, ‘I don’t have any because I have yet to talk to the Board of Trustees or the president about what this statement means.'”

That’s a strange spot for an athletic director to be in, especially with his coach out raising money almost every week and a roster still sitting at the bottom of the league in spending.

Arkansas enters this stretch of the season 1-2, with lopsided losses already on the books against Utah and Georgia. The one win the opener over North Alabama wasn’t particularly impressive.

Silverfield isn’t hiding from any of it.

Silverfield was honest that plenty of the fundraising picture is out of his hands.

He explained a lot of the money raised goes toward the “betterment of the program,” while where it ultimately lands is still “to be determined.”

He’s also been clear the building process won’t happen overnight.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield during pregame warmups before game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

Money answers remain hard to pin down

“I knew this job was not going to be easy,” Silverfield said, pointing to Arkansas’ single Power 4 home win over the past three years as proof of how far the climb goes.

Still, he insists there’s belief inside the building.

Apparently no one wants to admit they know Yurachek fired former coach Sam Pittman for not winning enough games after admitting he didn’t get him the resources to win.

“We will get this fixed,” he said, adding that his players keep fighting because they believe in where the program is headed.

That leaves Razorbacks fans watching two things at once this fall about whether Silverfield’s roster can find its footing on the field and whether Yurachek finally answers for the gap between what he promised and what Arkansas is actually spending.

Until the Board of Trustees review produces real answers, the questions about Yurachek’s leadership aren’t going away.

With Silverfield still doing donor work during the season instead of only coaching, the Hogs’ path back to SEC relevance depends on more than what happens on Saturdays.

How Yurachek can wriggle out of this one with his job intact isn’t clear. It is crystal clear it will be the biggest story for a while.