David Pollack predicts Kirby Smart will circle Arkansas games due to Ryan Silverfield comment

David Pollack didn’t hold back when reacting to Arkansas hiring Ryan Silverfield. He’s already predicting fireworks the next time the Razorbacks run into Georgia. 

On the See Ball Get Ball podcast, Pollack said Silverfield’s prior jab at Georgia’s legal troubles from his radio show earlier this season, a joke about Bulldogs players “getting arrested for driving 900 miles per hour” and being a “weekly occurrence,” is the kind of comment Kirby Smart never forgets.

“He’s also the guy that had a comment about Georgia and the drivers and how they speed,” Pollack stated. “Kirby said he schedules guys that leave his school. I’m sure he has a quote board in his office, too. That’s like, ‘When I can smash that dude and step on that cockroach, I’ll do it.’” 

Pollack clarified he wasn’t literally calling Silverfield a cockroach, but the message was unmistakable — Smart loves keeping receipts. Regardless, Pollack called Silverfield’s move from Memphis to Fayetteville “very interesting,” noting the potential upside of Arkansas’ deep-pocketed NIL infrastructure. 

“Arkansas has money. … Walmart, Fortune 500 companies,” he added. “They’d benefit greatly from NIL if they can find the right guy to mix it, to get it together.” 

Still, he emphasized it’s one of the hardest jobs in the SEC. It’s a league where Arkansas sits far down the pecking order, and the margin for error is razor thin.

And that’s before factoring in Smart’s well-documented competitive streak. The moment Silverfield mocked Georgia publicly, Pollack believes he unknowingly inked himself onto Smart’s personal list. 

“Next year, maybe they’ll have some fireworks on that one,” Pollack teased, hinting that a future Georgia–Arkansas matchup could get decidedly one-sided in favor of the Bulldogs.

Outside of the Georgia drama, Silverfield arrives at Arkansas with one of the strongest Group of Five résumés in the country. Across six seasons at Memphis, he went 50–25, posted a 29–9 mark over the last three years, and notched four bowl wins, all against Power Four opponents. 

His Tigers also carried the nation’s longest active streak of scoring 20+ points (51 straight games) while fielding a defense that allowed just 23 points per game the past two seasons.

Arkansas, meanwhile, desperately needed a reboot after a disastrous 2–10 season and winless SEC slate. Sam Pittman was fired after a 2–3 start, and Bobby Petrino couldn’t win a game as interim. 

Silverfield beat the Razorbacks earlier in the year, a result that helped push Pittman out. He later emerged as the favorite, beating out finalists like Alex Golesh and Kane Wommack.

Now, he steps into an SEC job where resources exist, expectations are sky-high, and the climb is steep. And if Pollack is right, he also walks straight into Smart’s line of sight. One thing is certain, and that’s whenever Arkansas and Georgia meet again, nobody will need extra motivation.