Arkansas, Ryan Silverfield targeting in-state coordinator

With expanded resources and additional financial capabilities committed to his program, new Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield is working to make another significant addition to his inaugural Razorbacks football staff.

Sources tell FootballScoop that Arkansas and Silverfield are targeting Dakota Tillman, Butch Jones’s special teams coordinator at Arkansas State, for a spot on the Razorbacks staff.

Tillman’s climb in coaching has been a fairly quick one.

A special teams quality control coach for Jones at Arkansas Sate in 2023-24, Tillman was elevated to the special teams coordinator role prior to the 2025 season

His units helped play key roles in Arkansas State’s ability to close out the season with six wins in its final eight games, a stretch that included a four-game winning streak as well as last week’s season-ending, 34-28 triumph against Missouri State in the Xbox Bowl.

A Limestone University alum with a graduate degree from Georgia Southern, Tillman coached high school football from 2018 until he got his first collegiate job in Jones’s Red Wolves program.

Now, he’s on the verge of joining Silverfield’s staff in a situation that needs rebuilding. Arkansas conducted a lengthy search that concluded when it reached agreement with Silverfield on Nov. 30, 2025, after the school had entered in-depth negotiations with then-USF head coach Alex Golesh.

Golesh was hired away by Auburn, and Arkansas swiftly pivoted to Silverfield, who tallied a 50-25 mark in his time atop the University of Memphis program. That stretch included 29 wins the past three seasons — a stretch that saw Silverfield’s team notch wins against Arkansas, Florida State, Iowa State and Tulane among myriad other quality wins.

Arkansas is set to open the Silverfield era Sept. 5, 2026, against Football Championship Subdivision program North Alabama.

The Razorbacks then travel cross-country the following week for an intersectional showdown at Utah, which also will be under the guidance of a new coach. The Utes have handed the keys to their program to defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley. He takes over for the outgoing Kyle Whittingham, who’s exiting Utah but not retiring from coaching.

Whittingham is now at the center of the Michigan coaching search; FootballScoop reported a week ago that Whittingham had strong support from a significant portion of Michigan decision-makers.