TAMPA, Fla. -- Coach Ryan Silverfield was heading to his introductory news conference at Arkansas when he asked a simple question: "Can we turn some lights on?"
The surprising answer, Silverfield said, was "they are on."
From dark, dank hallways to a weight room that hadn't gotten new dumbbells in nearly three decades, Silverfield said he walked into a program with "a loser mentality." His biggest challenge in Year 1 after arriving from Memphis has been changing expectations within his own building.
"We're fighting those battles every single day," Silverfield said at SEC media days Thursday. "We're not the past. I think the players that we've retained and the few staff members we retained are saying, 'Oh, this is very different.' It's not rah-rah and sunshine and rainbows every day, but we're working in the right direction."
Beyond the sales pitch inside the football facility, Silverfield said he has spent roughly 80% of his time on fundraising in hopes of lifting Arkansas out of the bottom tier of spenders in the SEC.
On Thursday, Silverfield met with one big-name fan, golfer John Daly. And he is working to build relationships with multiple national brands in Northwest Arkansas, including Tyson Chicken and Wal-Mart -- relationships that had been nonexistent previously.
"It's showing people what it needs to look like," Silverfield said. "But I have great faith we can get this done, and it's my job to tap into those resources. Listen, if we get Wal-Mart involved, it's game over."
Without the big money pouring in, Silverfield said Arkansas had fallen woefully behind on items that have become commonplace elsewhere in the SEC, like feeding players after a workout and maintaining proper nutrition standards.
"We're changing out every light bulb in the building," Silverfield said. "It was so dark and dreary -- like, how do you get motivated? You walk the hallway and everything is trash. The stairs -- nothing's been painted in there. The lights don't work. You walk in the weight room and the weights are 26 years old. I said, 'No. No wonder there's a loser mentality.' ... You're not talking Division III. This is the SEC."
The changes are just beginning, Silverfield said, but Arkansas' players have taken notice.
"That's something he brought in immediately when he got here," center Caden Kitler said. "The weights are super nice. The lighting's very nice as well. I feel more awake when I walk into the building, and I actually want to be there instead of it being like a job."
