Three SEC Teams Hire New Head Coaches

As the college football regular season concluded on Saturday, three Southeastern Conference programs announced new head coaches on Sunday, signaling the start of an active hiring period amid ongoing postseason preparations. Arkansas, Auburn, and Florida each finalized deals with rising talents from outside the league, while a major move involving Ole Miss and LSU loomed later in the day.

Arkansas moved first, hiring Ryan Silverfield from Memphis to replace Sam Pittman, who was fired on September 28 after a 2-3 start to his sixth season. The Razorbacks finished the year 2-10 overall and 0-8 in SEC play under interim coach Bobby Petrino, marking their first winless conference campaign since 2008 and extending a streak without 10 or more victories since 2011. Silverfield, 45, has led Memphis since 2020, compiling a 50-25 record and guiding the Tigers to bowl games in each of his five full seasons. This year, Memphis went 8-4, including a 32-31 upset win over Arkansas on September 20. Earlier in his career, Silverfield served as Memphis' assistant head coach and offensive line coach under Mike Norvell from 2016 to 2019, following a stint as an assistant offensive line coach with...