Hour 2: Guest Host Bobby Bones, Barstool Sports’ Brandon Walker, plus Arkansas HC Ryan Silverfield

23:53I think the biggest thing is we're very fortunate. We had a lot of successful years at Memphis, and I appreciated my time there. But I think hearing Arkansas fans say, man, we just love the way your guys played. They seemed disciplined. They seemed tough. They played for all four quarters. And ultimately, right, that's what we want to see here year in and year out. So I think that was the biggest thing moving forward. When I was a freshman in college, we did this thing where all the new freshmen got together and we did like trust games and it's like get to know name tag games. You got 80 new people there.

24:20Do you guys do that? Like trust fall, do the chair challenge. You got, what do you do? Yeah, you know what? Believe it or not, right? A lot of teams will go do the old, hey, let's go to Dave and Buster's and build camaraderie. But we've done numerous things, right? One of the things we did this past offseason, instead of just doing basic winter conditioning, we actually chose teams. We had captains and selected guys, all different position groups, different ages, and built their teams. And they kind of had fun with competition with that and accountability throughout that. Then we did some true kumbaya, right?

24:49Like some campfire bonding. A bunch of guys, different groups, different ages, and kind of tell their life stories, kind of talk about their why. And that's been good. But then ultimately, right, those guys taking care of each other in the locker room and making sure we get to know who one another are. I think that's as important as anything we've done ultimately so we have a great team. Do you feel like your age is important, that you've been able to do it the old way, but you're still young enough to really embrace the new way? Because I feel like you're right there. Like we're the same age.

25:18Like I had no Internet and I had Napster and now I'm living on TikTok. But the same way with you and how this is working, is that an advantage to you? Bobby, I think you're exactly right. I think that's the, you know, 28 years of coaching. So I've done it the old school way. This is the way it's always been. And, you know, believe in some of those things I learned all the way in the late 90s. But then also, right, you've got to be able to evolve. I think any head coach that takes over a program or any head coach nowadays, you're going to get run over if you're not evolving or staying ahead of this thing.

25:50And so I think that whether it's youth or just, you know, not letting my ego get in the way, this is what we need to do. This is how we've got to prepare. These are some of the things we have to do in college football at Arkansas in order to give ourselves a chance. But then there's that old school approach on the field. Hey, this is the blue collar. This is what we're all about. Still believe in accountability. You know, I know the day and age before there was such a thing as NIL. So that accountability piece is still strong. I'm buddies with Jared Allen and Jared Allen Vikings. Great. And as soon as you got hired, he's like, hey, this dude is an amazing dude.

26:23And I was like, cool. He won't text me back, but that sounds cool, Jared Allen. And then he's like, I'm going to go up and I'm going to work with the defense. So first of all, have you got Jared to come up yet and work with you guys? And what is you guys' relationship? Yeah, first off, no, Jared needs to get his butt over here. Came to visit me in Memphis and hung out and stayed a couple nights at the house. But Jared and I go way back, obviously, our time with the Vikings. I was actually an assistant D-line coach and worked a lot with the defensive end. So Jared and I, you know, I had to prove myself.

26:52You know how it is when you're sometimes coaching guys around your age, just saying, hey, this is a tool I can give you. This is something that may help you. And at first, you know, Jared, right, kind of looked at me like, what the hell am I going to learn from you? But our relationship grew, the trust grew. And then, you know, in the NFL, right, you can actually be friends with the guys you're coaching. So it was just that trust factor. And, you know, I don't take any of the credit for obviously his Hall of Fame career, but maybe I gave him one or two things along the way that allowed him to have a little bit of success.

27:20And then our friendship grew from there, you know, whether it was going to his wedding, just getting to know him whenever we'd be in each other's towns, visiting with one another, him coming to visit us last year. It's been great. Him and I still keep in touch. But no, we need to get Jared out here. Bobby, I've got some stories on him for another time off. I'm sure you do. So, OK, so you're in Fayetteville. now. You obviously make a bunch more money now. Have you bought anything cool? No. There's no time for anything. I'm a father of young girls and a head football coach in the SEC. There's not a whole lot of time.

27:55Not even enough time to swing the golf club. I have not bought anything cool at all. That's not really my style. I think most people look at me and say did you actually get rid of stuff on your way? That's just the nature of it. My daughters will be just well off. They'll be fine. What did you do with all your old Memphis clothes? Like when that happens and you have all that purple or blue, I don't even know what color that is. What do you do with all that? Yeah, so 10 years at Memphis, you can imagine the accumulation of stuff. Six years as a head coach there. So probably over 300 pieces of Memphis gear at the local homeless shelter.

28:29So there's a lot of people walking around the streets of Memphis with some Ryan Silverfield, nice Memphis coaching gear. Like seriously, you feel like a baller walking around town now, right? Like we worship you. I'm from Arkansas. Like that's what we have. We don't have pro. We have the University of Arkansas. on. If we see the guy, that's the guy. It's got to be pretty cool. And also maybe a little weird to be like, that's the dude everywhere you go, right? Well, listen, it's humbling. I understand this position and I'm grateful for that. There's certainly, as we've all seen, there's some head coaches that let that go to their head.

29:01I put my head down at work and I, and listen, I'm grateful for that. We've got some amazing fans, Bobby, and I'm so appreciative of that. But that's the least of my concern, but I also understand who I represent every time I take the field with everything I do, all my actions. But yeah, listen, it's been fun. I've enjoyed interacting. I've been told that I probably get out and about more than some of the people previously. And so it's been enjoyable to get to meet and see so many of our great fans. Two final questions. It's Bobby Bones filling in for Rich Eisen. Today, we're talking to Ryan Silverfield, head football coach at Arkansas.

29:34So question number one is we're not waiting three or four years generally in college football. Not me, but, you know, we've seen that things move different and faster because of NIL and transfer portal. Like, what do you think a fair expectation is for a coach when he comes to a new program? Listen, no one's going to have higher expectations for this Arkansas football program than myself and probably you. Right. You know, but ultimately I want to see us improve every single week. we're going to obviously be judged on our wins and losses, but are we improving? Does this team play better disciplined football than we have in the past?

30:12Are they playing with relentless effort? Are we handling the controllables? It's my job and our staff's job to put together the best roster we can, and we're making headway and doing things financially to continue to make this place better. But this year, when you put on the tape or, Bobby, you're in the stands, you sit there and say, man, that looks like a much-improved team. And I think if we do that, we're heading in the right direction. coach you said it wrong i go in the suite i don't go in the stands come on coach

30:42yeah that's a final question and so this is be totally truthful with me here how many phones do you have and if you do have a second burner ish type phone is that the number that i have yeah i've got uh truly have one phone uh i still have the same number from uh the vikings gave me a cell phone. They said, Hey, at your age, you should probably have a cell phone. So that number that you have is still that same, uh, Minnesota number. And then, uh, I've got another one that isn't that the university gave me that has never left my desk. Yeah. That don't be typing that one. They'll go in freedom of information act.

31:16And next thing, you know, who knows, uh, coach really rooting for you. Uh, you know, I have so many friends that know you personally and vouch for you as a dude excited to see, you know, what happens this year. So I really appreciate the time and you will not find a louder, more, uh, heard, passionate hog fan than me. And so I'm excited for this year. Bobby, man, I really appreciate it. Look forward to seeing you on the Hill this fall and, uh, grateful for all you're doing all your support, man. There he is. Coach Ryan Silverfield. Thank you, coach. Thanks man. Yes. All the best. Boom, boom, boom.

31:49I'm going to go NFL. I'm going to do top five quarterback rooms. Likely to get weird. Are you ready for this? I love a weird room. I stay ready so I don't have to get ready. Weird room. Let's go number five. Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, Drew Aller. They're all in that room, right? Now, why will it get weird? Well, Rodgers is the starter. There is no controversy right now. The weird part is, what's next? Pittsburgh could keep four quarterbacks on with all of them. Both Will Howard and Drew Aller are sitting there as possible options. Now, Rodgers is 42, and Howard and Aller are both trying to prove they're the guy.

32:23but are they? Are they investable? You know, Rogers is just here for a minute. I think that room could get weird. Thoughts? Four quarterbacks. Yeah. And the coach said he'd keep more than that. Seven. So I don't understand what the point of that is because obviously by keeping the quarterbacks that you know are not going to see the field, you're taking away from another position that you could have players actually contribute to the team. So, yeah, that is weird to me. Del Tufo! I think that's crazy because TJ put it perfectly well. You have players, if they go down and you need another one, three is like, that's like, to me, a max.

33:08You need a starter, backup, backup to the backup just in case your starter goes down. I get it. But you can always get another quarterback if you need to down the line. But saying that, I think that's insane. To me, this is an interesting situation because obviously Rodgers is the guy, and Mason Rudolph is a serviceable backup at times. He's had to start enough games that you know. So you would go, well, just cut him. But if Rodgers goes down, Mason Rudolph can't actually win games, especially with the defense. But then if you actually think Will Howard or Drew Aller is the guy, how do you cut one of them now?

33:41Yeah. I was thinking about this the other day. I mean, Mason Rudolph's been there for years now with the Steelers. And like I talked about Justin Gabriel and Shador earlier, Bobby, Maybe it's time to maybe let him go on and find another route, another path to extend his NFL career because he's had a chance there. They haven't committed to him. So maybe he's not in the right spot. Maybe it's time for him to go and kind of see where he can land and maybe make more of a contribution to the team than he is right now. And number four, and this one is getting less weird by the day, especially after last night's game, but Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza.

34:18I mean, this is the classic setup. It's like established vet who's made a billion dollars. Kirk Cousins, very likable after his injury for a second. Wasn't good, but then got kind of good again. But Mendoza is the guy eventually. Right. There is no doubt that that's why it's all happening. So, you know, when does Kirk Cousins get his feelings hurt if he's taken out? Like, I don't think he does. Even if it's week two, even if it's happened to him before. So I don't think he does. I think he knows that Mendoza is going to start. Like, it's going to happen. Yeah, I agree with Mike. Week two, though, feels early for a guy like Kirk Cousins, who is good again and they're paying a decent amount of money to.

34:58I would say they probably wouldn't make a week two change because if you were going to do that, then why even give him the job to start with? Week two? You're in the switch already? Unless he goes out there and completely poops the bed, which, you know, I don't think he's going to do. Kirk Cousins hung around long enough and made as much money as he had, not because he wasn't good at his job, you know, So I think week two would be way too early, and it would be like, what's the point? And number three, Kyler Murray, J.J. McCarthy. Obviously, Kyler is the number one quarterback. But, I mean, that was weird.

35:30That's another weird one. That's just another weird one. Because McCarthy was supposed to be the future, and Kyler's playing on a one-year deal, and McCarthy's going to sit there for another year, and we're going to try this again. Which is weirder, that Kyler plays badly or Kyler plays really well? I'll be honest, I think Kyler Murray is going to have a really good year this year. I agree. I think so, too. Quiet is kept. I mean, look, he was in a tough division, right? And there was all this stuff about him, you know, with the video games and the practice habits. But Justin Jefferson, let's not forget, just because the stats haven't said so.

36:05My cousin, by the way, Justin Jefferson. Because the stats last year didn't say so. He's still a premier weapon in this league. He's still top of the food chain when it comes to wide receivers. and then also you have Jordan Addison. I don't know. I think Kyler Murray is going to surprise people with his play this year. Two left, Atlanta Falcons. We've got the two lefties, Tua and Penix. Now, Atlanta. I like Penix. Penix is working his way back after the surgery. Tua has had a chance to win the job and hasn't exactly run away with it. I mean, remember, at No. 8 when Penix was drafted, it was like, what is happening here?

36:38The new coaching staff also inherited him, and that's always weird when it ain't your guy, even though that's a guy. He's the guy from the guy. Yes. If Tua wins the job, do we start going, does Pennix even have a future in Atlanta? I got to be honest, based upon what we've seen out of Tua, I don't know that that's going to be the case. Because? I know we say preseason doesn't matter, but in this case, it didn't look great. I thought the job was his because Pennix hadn't been playing. He was out with injury, right? Recovering. I don't know, Bobby. Hot take. Hot take. Ready for it? Cooper Rush plays at least four games.

37:16He didn't even get mentioned in that, but he's a third. And he can win some games. They brought him in for a reason, right? He wasn't there to start with. So who knows? You might not be off. I take that back. It stinks because you've got Bajon Robinson, right, who is one of the most gifted players in the league. And he's kind of going to get stuck in that role. There was a lot of great running backs back in the day who were just like great running backs on so-so teams. I'm afraid that might be the case here with Bajon. We don't know what we're going to get out of Kyle Pitts. Like every year we're thinking, all right, this is going to be the guy.

37:50And then until last year, he never really was. So I don't know, man. It's good luck to Atlanta. Yeah. Yeah. Good luck to them. I like that. Number one, it's Deshaun and Shitter and Dylan Gabriel. And I'm also going to say Taylon Green, who I know it's preseason. But I don't know if you've been watching him run like crazy. Also, he did play at Arkansas, but he has had a heck of a preseason. So, I mean, if they were to move Dylan Gabriel, they do have a good three. Yeah. At Taylor Green, who's coming in as a rookie. But, man, that's got to be a weird room. That's the weirdest room. That's the weirdest room.

38:25Also, Bobby, like it's weird when you – and I know that players do this all the time in all sports, but it's got to be weird too when you know the guy sitting right next to you and the guy you're spending the most time with, you and he – the two of you are competing for a job, right? So doesn't that make it tough to stay cordial? You know, or when he goes out there and drops a dime, are you really sitting there like, yeah, great player? You're like, crap, man. This is not good. I don't know how these guys do this, you know? What's going to be odd is whenever Deshaun gets benched and Shadur goes in, if Shadur also plays bad, I just feel bad for Browns fans.

39:01Yeah. They just have been served a poop sandwich and they got to eat it. Rough. And they go to games and shout out to Cleveland fans. I mean, look, I get crap all the time from my team, but, man, at least I've seen some type of success to never, you know. I know. Okay. Well, I do want to hear from you guys. Let's do it. Hit us up next segment, 844-204-RICH. We do have a lot. I'm Bobby Bones, in for Rich Eisen. Thank you so much, everybody.

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40:55The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. You can watch us on Disney Plus and the ESPN app and on ESPN Radio. and we do love and want to talk to you guys. I want to go try Terzo in Iowa one more time. For the second time. Terzo, hello. Yeah, what's up, Bobby Bones? Hey, sorry about that, guys. I was walking the dog coming back in the office here, and there's a little bit of a dead spot, and I must have caught her as soon as you guys went to me, so sorry about that. You're alive now, baby. What do you want to say? Hey, yo, so real quick, TJ, last week, whenever I was talking about my awesome chili that I make for the Carl's draft, you said that you're not a fan of chili?

41:32I don't like chili, bro. Beans. I'm with TJ, too. That is shocking. It's a staple food. What's the reason behind it? You know, here's the funny thing. I can remember being a kid, probably like three, four years old. My mom made chili. When you're a kid at that age, you're not trying to eat. And I remember her kind of forcing me to eat the chili. And I don't know if it was defiance on my part or the fact that I just didn't like the chili. but I ended up throwing up. And ever since then, I don't think I've ever eaten a bowl of chili since that day. That'll do it. We used to be on government food and we had a big thing of pudding and we would go get these puddings.

42:15They were kind of like meals ready to eat, military. We'd stand in line to get government cheese and pudding and ate the whole thing of pudding and I vomited the pudding all out and I can't eat pudding to this day. So I feel you right there. Let's talk about your team there. Are you 49ers in this? Yeah, I'm a huge Niner fan. Last night it was kind of nice to see that defense apply some pressure to Mendoza. Last year, obviously you guys have talked about it on the show, we had the fewest sacks in the league, and our pressure on the quarterback was extremely low as well too. So that, I think, kind of led to our downfall plus the injury.

42:49So it was good to see that. Good to see that we have some depth because obviously this Niners team needs it because that substation just continues to tear down the team. I'm joking about that. Or are you joking? Are you turning on? Yeah, I think you might not be joking. Yeah, I don't necessarily know. You joke about what hurts. That's what I always do. Well, I wasn't going to make a joke about anything that happened in Ohio. So, you know, we can kind of just keep moving forward from that one. What do you think? What's your ceiling? Oh, man. And I think my win-loss I had, I said, 11 and 7 when I did the win-loss.

43:30I think that that's kind of where we should be. We do have a difficult schedule just given our division, but I do believe it's manageable. The unfortunate part that I think we run into is we travel like 37 ,000 some odd miles over the course of the season. and obviously we're a team that struggles with injuries so just another hurdle that we're going to have to go over so i think if we if we get to a um 11 and 11 and 7 i think we have a good opportunity 11 6 if you don't mind i'd like to say a few things about the 49ers and i knew you were going to talk about them so i started to jot down my thoughts here as far as the floor i mean this is a really interesting team to me because uh it's a pretty wide range i think they could go eight nine i think they could go 13 and four i mean thinking back to last year again they were so injury prone, not prone, they were just crushed by injuries in general.

44:22And that's why the whole story came out about the power plant, too. Why is everybody, why are their legs dying? It must be some radiation from, so they went 12-5 last year with a win in the playoffs despite getting crushed by injuries. And Fred Warner, he was making some cool ninja videos even after he was getting started. He never came back. He didn't make cool ninja videos, but he should be ready to go. I mean, Nick Bosa. And so it's the Brock Purdy-Kyle Shanahan situation. How do you feel right now? And Brock's got a real contract now. Shanahan is obviously the guy if he's healthy. How do you feel about that relationship with those two and what's going to happen with that this year?

45:01I think it's a great relationship, to be completely honest with you. And when Purdy was drafted, I was extremely excited that we got him. And I remember calling back into the show that offseason and saying that I was happy that he made the roster, and I thought that we had the best quarterback room just overall, just given its depth with him as number three, and I turned out to be right when the fact that Garoppolo and Lance both went down. So I think them paired together, they both know what is expected of each other, especially with the limitations that Brock does have, but he also has a lot of talent, and he's got a lot of gumption, and that kid can stay in the pocket.

45:42He can move around and out of the pocket and make a lot of tough throws. And so if we can stay healthy and that offensive line can protect him, I think he can be right there where he was two years ago when he was in the MVP conversation. Mike Evans is going to be interesting. Yeah, he's older, but, man, he is consistent. And we've said he's older for a long time and he still catches 1 ,000. I mean, Mike Evans is probably going to be that dude, especially in that offense. But you're right. Yeah, when you came on initially, you were like, hey, I wanted to see the defense. And they were dead last in the NFL last year with 19 or 20 sacks.

46:16It was some low number. So, I mean, I think that to me feels like if there's growth there, you would feel a lot better, generally speaking. Especially with Bosa coming back and actually applying pressure. He's the guy that we need the most on that defense for that factor. because Fred Warner can get everybody in position. He can do so much there in the middle of the field. We just have to get pressure on the quarterback so then our DBs aren't sitting out on an island for so long. I felt that. Terzo, I appreciate the call. Thank you, man. Good luck to the Niners. Appreciate you guys. You guys have a great weekend.

46:57All right, brother. With the Niners, for me, it's not even that I'm worried that the 49ers are good enough. Mostly it's the worry is, will the best players be on the field together? at the same time. Because I feel like if you give Kyle Shanahan 17 games with Purdy and McCaffrey and Kittle and Bosa and Warner, that's an NFC team that can do it. Trent Williams is getting real old, but he's still the man. We're talking about old players that make us still feel good. Trent Williams. He's one of them. Yeah, he's one of them. Still tossing people around. We do have Howie Mandel coming up a little bit.

47:34I almost forgot. Yeah, I'm excited. Oh, yeah, for sure. I ain't going to touch him physically. What's that? You can't touch him. Don't touch him physically. Oh, yeah, I know about it. Yeah, because, you know, he doesn't want to be touching. Give him an elbow or a... I'm not going to do that. All right, we're back in a second. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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