Silverfield has been one of the most successful head coaches in the country since taking over the Memphis program in December 2019, going 50-25, including 10+ win seasons in 2023 and 2024, while earning bowl eligibility all six years. With eight wins this season, Memphis has 29 wins over the last three seasons and ranks among the top 15 programs in the country in wins. His final Tigers team extended the program’s streak to 12 straight bowl appearances – the longest streak among non-Power 4 programs in the country.
Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said, “During our conversation it became clear that Coach Silverfield agreed with our vision of making the College Football Playoff and competing for a national championship.” “With our new and significant financial investment in the football program, we are confident we now have the coaches and resources to do just that. During the search process, Coach Silverfield’s proven ability to win games over sustained periods of time separated him from the pack and made him the perfect choice to be our next head football coach. His teams have been consistent winners at Memphis since taking over the program in 2019. The knowledge of our state and region he brings along with his ability to build and maintain a program will We are excited to welcome his wife Katie and their two daughters Adeline and Celesia to Arkansas who will provide a great foundation for growing our program.
The 2025 Tigers once again had an explosive attack, finishing the regular season No. 19 in FBS with an average of 34.6 points per game, marking the fourth consecutive season a Memphis team has ranked in the top 25 for points per game at season’s end. All six of Silverfield’s Memphis teams have averaged 30+ points per game. The Tigers are one of just five schools nationally to rank in the top 20 in scoring each of the last three seasons, joining Notre Dame, Oregon, Ole Miss and Texas State.
The team’s defense has steadily improved over the past three seasons, allowing just 22.5 points per game this year – the best of the Silverfield era and third-best in the American Conference this season. The Tigers’ defense also ranked third in the American allowing 361.1 yards per game, a number that has improved dramatically over the past two seasons. The team’s 19 forced turnovers helped Memphis rank 13th in the FBS in turnover margin of plus-9.
Memphis’ historic 2024 season saw the Tigers complete back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in program history, capped by a Frisco Bowl victory over West Virginia to post an 11–2 record. The 11-win campaign was good enough to keep the Tigers ranked No. 23 in the final Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the final AP Poll, the first time Memphis had finished in the top 25 of either poll since 2019. The Memphis team entered December ranked No. 25 in the College Football Playoff Top 25 after a win over Tulane to snap the Green Wave’s 17-game conference winning streak. The Tigers spent 10 weeks ranked or receiving votes in the AP Poll and received votes or were ranked in 14 of the 17 editions of the Coaches Poll.
Silverfield became the first Memphis head coach in history to win Tennessee Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year honors for the second time in 2023 after leading the Tigers to a 10-2 season. His squad captured only the fifth 10-win season in program history and won their school record fourth bowl game with a 36–26 victory over Iowa State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The 2022 Tigers won their second consecutive bowl game, becoming the first Memphis head coach to win back-to-back bowl games.
In 2021, true freshman QB Seth Hennigan led the Tigers to earn Freshman All-America honors. He passed for 3,322 yards and 25 touchdowns to break the school’s new passing yards record and finish sixth overall on the program’s single-season list. His 25 touchdowns matched the seventh-most touchdowns in school history.
His first season as head coach of the Tigers ended with an 8–3 record during the 2020 season. Silverfield’s .727 winning percentage set a school record for winning percentage by a head coach, with the team’s eight wins matching Mike Norvell’s record for a first-year head coach. On the field, Memphis ranked 22nd in the nation in total offense (453.1) and 17th in the nation in both passing offense (307.9) and first down offense (260). Defensively, the Tigers were 13th in turnovers gained (20), 17th in passes intercepted (12) and 19th in red zone defense (.744).
After more than 18 years of coaching experience at the high school, college and NFL levels, Silverfield joined the Memphis staff as the team’s offensive line coach in 2016 and began his ascent on the Tigers staff, earning a promotion to run game coordinator in 2017 before being named assistant head coach in 2018 and deputy head coach in 2018.
Silverfield’s 2018 offensive line was one of 10 semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, given to the best offensive line in college football. He was named one of six finalists for the Offensive Line Coach of the Year award sponsored by FootballScoop and was recognized as one of the top recruiters during his time in Memphis. In 2017, he was listed as the fourth-best recruiter in The American by 247sports.com.
Prior to Memphis, Silverfield split the 2015 season as a senior offensive analyst at Arizona State and as an assistant offensive line coach with the NFL’s Detroit Lions – his second stint coaching in the NFL. He helped a 2-7 Lions team go 5-2 over the final two months of the season, behind a new offensive line that allowed QB Matthew Stafford to throw 17 touchdowns with only one interception during a seven-game stretch.
In 2014, as an offensive consultant, he helped Toledo post a 9–4 mark and 7–1 record in the Mid-America Conference to win the West Division. The nine wins for the Rockets were the team’s most wins since 2001, which ended with a GoDaddy.com Bowl victory over Arkansas State. Silverfield’s work along the offensive line helped pave the way for one of the best offenses in school history as the Rockets set school records for total offense, total rushing yardage and first downs per game, while also ranking in the program’s top five in points per game (second), touchdowns scored (third) and rushing touchdowns (third). The offense led the MAC in scoring offense, total offense, rushing offense and first downs with RB Kareem Hunt leading the league in rushing (1,631 yards) and leading the FBS in yards per carry (8.0).
Silverfield spent six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings (2008–13), working with both the offensive and defensive lines. During his time in Minneapolis, the Vikings won a pair of NFC North division titles along with three playoff appearances, including an appearance in the 2009 NFC Championship Game. He worked with an offensive line that blocked for 2012 NFL MVP Adrian Peterson as Peterson rushed for a league-best 2,097 yards.
At UCF in 2006–07, he worked on both sides of the ball as a graduate assistant. His first season with the Knights was spent with offense and his second season with the Knights defense, leading them to a 10–4 season and a Conference USA championship.
In 2005, Silverfield served as the quarterbacks coach at Jacksonville University. At the age of 23, he served as the head coach at Memorial Day High School in Savannah, Georgia in 2004.
He coached throughout his time in college at Hampden-Sydney College (VA), starting as an offensive assistant in 2000 before taking over the Tigers’ defensive line in 2001–02. He helped the Tigers to a 9–1 record during his final season as the team’s tight ends and H-backs coach in 2003. Led the nation with 47.0 points per game and scored 45+ points in all 10 games that season.
Silverfield began his coaching career in 1999 at his alma mater – The Bolles School. As a player at Bolles, he was a member of two state championships in 1995 and 1999, helping the Bulldogs to a No. 1 ranking in the USA TODAY Super 25 national high school poll.
Silverfield and his wife, Katie, have twin daughters, Adeline and Celicia.
silverfield file
Date of Birth: 4 August 1980
Hometown: Jacksonville, Florida.
High School: The Bolles School (Jacksonville, Florida)
College: Hampden-Sydney College (Va.), 2003 Economics
Family: Wife – Katie; Daughters – Adeline and Celicia
coaching experience
1999 The Bolles School – Assistant Coach
2000 Hampden-Sydney College (Va.) – Offensive Assistant
2001–02 Hampden–Sydney College (Va.) – Defensive Line
2003 Hampden-Sydney College (Va.) – Tight Ends, H-Backs
2004 Memorial Day HS – Head Coach
2005 Jacksonville – quarterback
2006 Central Florida – Graduate Assistant, Crime
2007 Central Florida – Graduate Assistant, Defense
2008–10 Minnesota Vikings – Offensive Quality Control, DL Assistant
2011–13 Minnesota Vikings – Assistant offensive line
2014Toledo – Offensive Advisor
2015 Arizona State – Senior Offensive Analyst
2015 Detroit Lions – Assistant Offensive Line
2016 Memphis – Offensive Line
2017 Memphis – Run Game Coordinator, OL
2018 Memphis – Assistant Head Coach, Run Game Coordinator, OL
2019 Memphis – Deputy Head Coach, Run Game Coordinator, OL
2019–25 Memphis – Head Coach
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