Arkansas is going with Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield to be the Razorbacks’ next head coach. While Silverfield did win some games, going 50-24 with the Tigers, he never won an American Conference championship with them.
Tigers fans hope their next head coach will be different. Here are some names they could consider when looking for the next coach:
Kennesaw State Head Coach Jerry Mack
Mack is very much in the mix for the Memphis head coach opening, per source.
Mack, who already has experience at Memphis, finally got a head coaching opportunity at the FBS level this season, and he’s guided the Owls through a fantastic 2025 season.
Kennesaw State is 9-3 overall and 7-1 in Conference USA play this year, its second in the FBS. The Owls will face Jacksonville State in the CUSA title game this week.
Last year, Mack was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ running backs coach. Previously, Mack was Tennessee’s running backs coach from 2021-23. In 2023, the Volunteers were 10th in the country with 204.8 rushing yards per game.
Mack has also been an associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach at Rice, a head coach at North Carolina Central, a wide receivers coach at South Alabama and Memphis, an OC and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Central Arkansas, and a wide receivers/tight ends coach at Jackson State.
Western Kentucky Head Coach Tyson Helton
Helton is another established head coach who has experience at Memphis and therefore could be a name to watch. The Hilltoppers have made a bowl game every year since he arrived in 2019 and are continuously in contention for Conference USA Championships.
Helton’s coaching background primarily involves offense. He began his coaching career at Hawaii as a graduate assistant in 2000 and worked with special teams the following three years.
He then coached tight ends and special teams at Memphis from 2004-06. The next five seasons, he coached quarterbacks at UAB and then focused on running backs there in 2012.
In 2013, he was a tight ends and special teams coach at Cincinnati. He coached at WKU for the first time from 2014-15 as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
He was also a QBs coach and a passing game coordinator at USC from 2016-17. He then became the offensive coordinator and a quarterbacks coach at Tennessee for one year before going back to WKU to be a head coach.
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Toledo Head Coach Jason Candle
Candle is a current G5 head coach who’s been successful and could be a good fit for Memphis.
He has spent the majority of his collegiate coaching career at Toledo. First, he started coaching in 2002 at his alma mater, Division III Mount Union, where he was an all-conference wide receiver and was a vital player for two national championship teams.
He then helped Mount Union win four more national titles as a coach. He coached wideouts there from 2002-06 and was the team’s offensive coordinator from 2007-08.
That led to him coaching slot receivers and tight ends at Toledo, where he has mentored several eventual NFL players, in 2009. He coached Toledo’s wide receivers from 2010-13 while also being the Rockets’ OC from 2012-13.
He was Toledo’s associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach from 2014-15 before being promoted to head coach.
Candle is 81-44 as the head coach at Toledo, which has won two MAC Championships with him at the helm.
Southern Miss Head Coach Charles Huff
Huff only got to Southern Miss last year. But maybe an opportunity like this would be too great to pass up.
Huff is 39-25 in the FBS as a head coach. That’s mostly from his four years at Marshall.
The Thundering Herd went 9-3 during the 2024 regular season before defeating Louisiana in the Sun Belt title game. Huff also led Marshall to four consecutive bowl appearances.
Huff was a well-respected assistant coach and recruiter before taking over at Marshall.
During his career, he has mostly coached running backs. And within the past decade, he’s mentored some great ones like Saquon Barkley of Penn State and Najee Harris and Brian Robinson Jr. of Alabama.
Huff was an assistant head coach and running backs coach at Alabama from 2019-20. The year before, he was an assistant head coach, running backs coach, and run game coordinator at Mississippi State.
He was a running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Penn State from 2014-17. He also worked with RBs at Western Michigan in 2013, and he was an assistant running backs coach at the pro level for the Buffalo Bills in 2012.
He was an offensive quality control coach for Vanderbilt in 2011 after coaching offensive linemen for a year at Hampton, which is where he played and started 12 games at center as a senior.
He was an assistant O-line coach at Maryland in 2009. He began his coaching career at Tennessee State, first working with offensive linemen in 2006 and then becoming a tight ends coach and special teams coordinator from 2007-08.
