| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Memphis |
| Conference | The American |
| Record | 42–21 |
| Annual salary | $2.2 million[1] |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1980-08-04)August 4, 1980 (age 44) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Hampden–Sydney (2003) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1999 | Bolles School (FL) (assistant) |
| 2000 | Hampden–Sydney (off. asst.) |
| 2001–2002 | Hampden–Sydney (DL) |
| 2003 | Hampden–Sydney (TE) |
| 2004 | Memorial Day HS (GA) |
| 2005 | Jacksonville (QB) |
| 2006–2007 | UCF (GA) |
| 2008 | Minnesota Vikings (OQC) |
| 2009–2010 | Minnesota Vikings (DL staff assistant) |
| 2011–2013 | Minnesota Vikings (assistant OL) |
| 2014 | Toledo (off. consultant) |
| 2015 | Arizona State (OA) |
| 2015 | Detroit Lions (assistant OL) |
| 2016 | Memphis (OL) |
| 2017–2018 | Memphis (RGC/OL) |
| 2019 | Memphis (AHC/RGC/OL) |
| 2020–present | Memphis |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 42–21 (college) 1–9 (high school) |
| Bowls | 4–1 |
Ryan Daniel Silverfield (born August 4, 1980)[2] is anAmerican football coach. He is the head football coach for theUniversity of Memphis, a position he has held since 2020. Silverfield has spent most of his coaching career, which began during his senior year of high school,[3][4] as either a line coach or a member of the offensive staff. He was hired at Memphis by then-head coachMike Norvell prior to the2016 season. After Norvell's departure toFlorida State on December 8, 2019, Silverfield served as the interim head coach before being promoted to head coach on December 28, 2019.[5]
Silverfield played forThe Bolles School inJacksonville, Florida for four years, winning state championships in 1995 and 1998.[2] He then joined the coaching staff as an assistant for the 1999 season, ending his playing career. Silverfield is therefore notable as one of the only coaches in the FBS ranks to have never played college football.[citation needed]
Silverfield landed his first college coaching job during his freshman year atHampden–Sydney College; he opted to coach for his four years in college rather than play. He served as an offensive assistant for one year, then as the defensive line coach for his sophomore and junior years, and as the tight ends coach for his senior year.[6] For the 2004 season, he served as the head coach atMemorial Day High School inSavannah, Georgia, whom he led to a 1–9 record.[7] He then rejoined the college coaching ranks, as he served as the quarterbacks coach atJacksonville University for one year and a graduate assistant atUCF for two, before joining theMinnesota Vikings staff, where he remained for six years in various positions.[5] Following a one-year stint atToledo, he took a position as an offensive analyst atArizona State, though he left part of the way through the season to join theDetroit Lions staff as an offensive line coach.
After the conclusion of the 2015 season, he was hired at Memphis byMike Norvell as an assistant.[8] He remained in that position for two years before being tapped as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator in 2018. He was elevated to assistant head coach in 2019, and was named interim head coach when Norvell left to take the head coach position atFlorida State. On December 13, Silverfield was promoted to head coach and debuted in his first college game as head coach on December 28 againstPenn State in the2019 Cotton Bowl Classic.[9]
Silverfield has two dogs, Sadee and Cooper.[6]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memorial Day High School(GISA Region 2–AA)(2004) | |||||||||
| 2004 | Memorial Day | 1–9 | 0–4 | 5th | |||||
| Memorial Day: | 1–9 | 0–4 | |||||||
| Total: | 1–9 | ||||||||
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis Tigers(American Athletic Conference)(2019–present) | |||||||||
| 2019 | Memphis | 0–1 | 0–0 | LCotton† | 17 | 17 | |||
| 2020 | Memphis | 8–3 | 5–3 | T–3rd | WMontgomery | ||||
| 2021 | Memphis | 6–6 | 3–5 | T–7th | NCHawaii | ||||
| 2022 | Memphis | 7–6 | 3–5 | T–8th | WFirst Responder | ||||
| 2023 | Memphis | 10–3 | 6–2 | 4th | WLiberty | ||||
| 2024 | Memphis | 11–2 | 6–2 | T–3rd | WFrisco | 23 | 24 | ||
| Memphis: | 42–21 | 23–17 | |||||||
| Total: | 42–21 | ||||||||
| |||||||||