Arkansas football’s trouble starts above Ryan Silverfield

Ryan Silverfield has coached five games at Arkansas and the one-and-done talk has already started.

It came from Brandon Walker of Barstool Sports, who said on his Monday night show the Razorbacks could try a do-over after one year.

“They got the hire wrong,” Walker said. “The fan base knows they got the hire wrong.”

Aaron Torres played the clip on his podcast and disagreed with most of it.

“I don’t think Ryan Silverfield will be one-and-done,” Torres said. “I don’t think Ryan Silverfield should be one-and-done.”

I’m with Torres on this one, mostly because he put the blame on athletics director Hunter Yurachek first.

Yurachek’s budget rules for Arkansas football

“It starts at the top,” Torres said.

He said Silverfield has to raise his own money for football.

The coach also got a budget he can’t go over, period.

The way Torres tells it, the other 15 coaches in the SEC know their AD will find a little extra if a difference-making player comes along.

Then there’s the $1 million check Torres said Silverfield landed at a basketball game. Yurachek told him it had to go into the general fund, according to Torres.

So the football coach finds a million bucks and football doesn’t get it. Good luck buying a quarterback with that.

“Hunter Yurachek probably needs to be gone,” Torres said.

Sam Pittman already went through this

Hogs fans ought to recognize the story because Sam Pittman lived it.

Yurachek fired Pittman, then admitted Pittman didn’t have the resources it takes to win in the SEC.

That’s two coaches in a row with the same boss and the same money problem.

Torres has doubts about the search that landed Silverfield, too. Based on what he was told, he isn’t sure Yurachek made every call.

He reminded listeners there was a time when it looked like Arkansas could get James Franklin.

He’s still stuck on Jon Gruden and he’s pretty confident nobody ever called him.

I can take or leave Gruden. Hiring the coach is still the AD’s job, and so is paying for the roster.

Silverfield isn’t off the hook at 2-3

The coach has his own problems, and Torres didn’t skip them.

The Razorbacks are 2-3. They’ve beaten North Alabama and Tulsa and lost to Utah and Georgia.

They lost 34-7 Saturday at Texas A&M, which Torres said isn’t a good team this year.

The Aggies ran for 231 yards at almost 5 a carry and finished with 401 total.

That one stung more than the others, Torres said, because the Hogs usually play A&M close.

He said Silverfield missed at quarterback with whatever money he did have and that the roster’s talent is as bad as anybody’s in the SEC.

Kentucky was his example of doing it right. Will Stein spent on the offensive line and a quarterback without the league’s biggest budget, and Torres said he’s figured it out in year one.

Tyson’s chicken line and the buyout

John Tyson spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday, and somebody asked why he hasn’t done for Arkansas what Cody Campbell did for Texas Tech.

“He’s got oil, I got chickens,” Tyson said.

It’s a funny line and Torres enjoyed it. It’s less funny if you’re the coach working with the chicken budget.

Torres doesn’t expect a change after one season anyway. He said the buyout is too big and colleges don’t have NFL owner money.

“I think this thing could go sideways really quick,” he said.

Maybe it will. If it does, Arkansas will be shopping for another coach under the same athletics director.

But I wouldn’t expect a different result without different money.