Chad Lunsford 'constantly bugged' Ryan Silverfield after previous opportunity to work together did not pan out

Chad Lunsford is one of two coordinators on Arkansas‘ football staff who previously had a chance to work for Head Hog Ryan Silverfield but the timing did not line up the first go round.

“My first year at FAU (in 2022) was with coach (Willie) Taggart, then coach Taggart left (in 2023) and coach (Tom) Herman got the job,” the Razorbacks special teams coordinator recalled during his press conference Wednesday. “And so it was kind of a transition piece for me, and coach Silverfield had called me and asked to interview me for the special teams job at Memphis.

“We started talking and all that type of stuff. At the time I didn’t take the job and luckily he didn’t hold it against me. I probably should have taken it as far as my career goes, it would have been a great move to go with him to Memphis. It would have been a no-brainer.”

Current Hogs defensive coordinator Ron Roberts also nearly worked for Silverfield, but a contract issue arose.

“When he first got to Memphis I was in Louisiana at the time and we met up there and they offered me a job,” Roberts said in February. “I wanted to take it and it just didn’t work out, had a buyout they couldn’t pay. Cut the BS – I had a buyout they couldn’t pay.”

Offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey was the lone coordinator holdover from Silverfield’s Memphis staff, along with multiple position coaches and staffers. Cramsey has coordinated Silverfield’s offenses since 2022.

Having been in Boca Raton for a short time Lunsford made a family decision to stay put, but the desire to work for Silverfield did not go away.

“At the time, I had just moved my family down to FAU,” Lunsford said. “We had gotten our kids in good schools, and I just didn’t want to move them again because we’d only been there a year. So I kind of made a family decision there, but I stayed in touch with him and constantly bugged, shot him texts, the whole thing, and just tried to build a relationship even though we were not working together.”

Following a three-year stint at FAU in which Lunsford worked in multiple roles, then one year at Auburn last season, that second opportunity arrived.

“When Coach Silverfield got the Arkansas job, I texted him to congratulate him and say, ‘man, love this for you’,” Lunsford said. “I think that’s a big time opportunity. This is great. And he shot me back and said, hey, you want to talk about special teams?

“And, so we got on the phone and Zoom and did a little interview, talked and all that and then ended up working out. So, again, not taking the job the first time, he didn’t hold it against me, and I’m super excited he didn’t. And I’m glad that now I have the opportunity to work with him. He’s the real deal.”

Catch Lunsford’s full press conference here…

Fully Utilizing Talent on Special Teams

Lunsford discussed some who have been standing out on punt and kick return, pointing out if Arkansas “were to play today” he thinks Memphis transfer running back Sutton Smith “would be the guy in both spots.” Lunsford also singled out Jamari Hawkins, another Memphis transfer, Markeylin Batton, plus in-state freshmen signees Dequane Prevo and Tay Lockett as others who have opened eyes.

Smith and Hawkins expect to be at least in the two-deep rotation by fall camp and Lunsford prefers the idea of starters and top contributors playing on special teams units if it makes sense.

“We are obviously going to be very smart about it,” Lunsford assured. “You want to build a core group of guys that play teams. So you want those guys that are four-phase guys. And most of the times when you get four-phase guys, those are either backups or third string guys at positions. But for your team to one, be good and also to be bought into it, you’ve got to show that you’re willing to put starters on special teams as well.

“But the philosophy with coach is going to be, ‘Hey, we want a starter to at least be starting on one special team, maybe even two, but we’ll be smart about that as well. If they’re getting huge reps on offense, or if they’re getting huge reps on defense, then their special teams role may be only one team, it may be two teams. But we’ll be smart about that, and we’ll still continue to try to build those four-phase guys from our depth.”

More Depth at Punter

Arkansas added Jesse Ehrlich from Cal Poly on Tuesday to provide more depth at punter with Connor Smith out for the spring and Gavin Rush having not kicked or punted in a college game.

“We do feel like Gavin’s really good and can be good enough to be a starting SEC punter, but you got to have depth,” Lunsford said. “And so we started looking at who is still left in the transfer portal.

“We were able to find Jesse Ehrlich, who was at Cal Poly. He was in the transfer portal and we were able to bring him on a visit. He’s got a lot of game experience. He’s talented. We think he’s a guy that can come in and push Gavin. I think Gavin, because of where he’s at in his career, he does need somebody to come in and compete with. But, I think Gavin can be our starter right now.”

Ehrlich appeared in 23 games for Cal Poly over the previous two seasons, averaging 42.4 yards per punt with 5 touchbacks and a long of 66 over that span.

With Smith not available, Lunsford connected with the 32nd-best punter and 38th kicker in the class of 2025, according to Kohl’s Kicking.

“When everything kind of went down with Connor, we actually … I got reached out to by a young man that’s on campus here, that was going to school here, that was a punter, Noah Kalberer, and he we brought him out for the spring,” Lunsford said. “He’s kind of in a tryout situation, so he’s been doing the second-team punting for us. Obviously, we didn’t want Gavin taking every punt during the spring. That’s not very healthy for his leg and all that. But Noah Kalberer is the guy that we brought in, and he’s kind of in tryout mode force for the spring.”

Between spring football, the basketball transfer portal window, plus baseball and softball, this is a jam-packed time for Arkansas Razorbacks sports and a prime time to subscribe to HawgBeat.com. 

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