FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Ryan Silverfield hasn't coached his first regular-season game at Arkansas yet, but his fingerprints are already beginning to show up all over the Razorbacks' football program.
The roster is changing. The money surrounding the program is changing. The gameday experience is changing.
So could the Razorbacks' uniforms eventually be next?
It's an interesting question considering Silverfield's history at Memphis — and the approach he's taken since arriving in Fayetteville.
Silverfield Isn't Afraid of Change
When Arkansas hired Silverfield away from Memphis, it wasn't bringing in a coach interested in maintaining the status quo.
The Razorbacks were coming off a 2-10 season and needed more than a few roster additions. Arkansas needed new energy surrounding the entire program.
Silverfield has wasted little time providing it.
Arkansas is upgrading the lighting inside Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium with more than 250 new LED lights and eight Clubmax 40 lasers, creating the ability for custom lighting shows and logo projections.
Changes have also been made around the team's tunnel and entrance, with Arkansas looking to create a different atmosphere when the Razorbacks take the field.
Those may seem like small details compared with recruiting and winning football games, but they're another indication that Silverfield isn't afraid to modernize the program.
And his time at Memphis provides another example.
Memphis Had No Shortage of Uniform Combinations
Memphis became known for having one of college football's more diverse uniform wardrobes during Silverfield's tenure.
The Tigers regularly mixed blue, white, gray and black jerseys and pants with numerous helmet designs, including their recognizable tiger-striped helmets.
The number of possibilities was enormous. Memphis has even been represented in EA Sports College Football with 17 alternate uniform presets, before accounting for additional mix-and-match possibilities.
That doesn't mean Silverfield was personally sitting in an office designing uniforms.
But he certainly operated a football program where experimenting with the team's appearance was embraced rather than avoided.
Arkansas has traditionally taken a different approach.
Cardinal and white are part of Razorback football's identity, and there's little reason to change that. But alternate combinations have appeared throughout Arkansas history, and Silverfield's arrival makes you wonder whether fans could eventually see more experimentation.
Perhaps that's a throwback.
Maybe it's a different helmet.
Or perhaps it's something more modern, like the gray-and-chrome concept accompanying this story.
Whatever it might be, Silverfield's history suggests he isn't automatically going to reject an idea simply because it isn't traditional.
The Bigger Changes Are Already Happening
Uniforms are ultimately cosmetic.
What's happening behind the scenes is considerably more important.
Arkansas has made an aggressive push to strengthen its NIL and player-acquisition resources, and supporters have contributed more than $25 million to the ALL IN Fund in less than 10 months.
Silverfield deserves credit for helping create that momentum, but it's been a collective effort involving Arkansas' administration, the Razorback Foundation, donors and supporters.
Silverfield has embraced another reality of modern college football: Head coaches aren't simply coaches anymore.
They have to recruit players, retain their roster, work the transfer portal, connect with donors and sell a vision for where the program is going.
So far, Silverfield appears comfortable doing exactly that.
A Different Feeling in Fayetteville
That's ultimately what stands out about the beginning of the Silverfield era.
It's not one massive change.
It's a collection of them.
New players. New resources. New stadium lighting. Changes to the team's entrance. A renewed push for NIL funding. A coach willing to embrace different ideas.
None of those things guarantee Arkansas will win football games. Silverfield will ultimately be judged by what happens on Saturdays in the SEC.
But before Arkansas can become a different football team, the program has to believe it can become one.
Silverfield appears determined to change that mindset.
And that brings us back to the original question.
Arkansas doesn't need to abandon its traditional cardinal-and-white identity. It's one of the recognizable looks in college football.
But considering what Silverfield has already changed — and considering how willing Memphis was to experiment with uniforms during his tenure — it wouldn't be surprising if the Razorbacks eventually added a few new looks of their own.
Maybe nothing changes.
Maybe Arkansas stays traditional.
Or maybe the new lights, new entrance and new era eventually come with a new look, too.
What do you think: Should Ryan Silverfield bring new uniform combinations to Arkansas, or should the Razorbacks stick with tradition?