Ryan Silverfield will bring a former Arkansas football assistant back to Fayetteville.
According to a report from CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, Deron Wilson will be the Razorbacks’ secondary coach in 2026. Wilson spent the 2023-24 seasons in the same role under Sam Pittman and defensive coordinator Travis Williams.
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Wilson was at Florida in 2025, where Ron Roberts was the defensive coordinator. Zenitz reported earlier this week that Roberts will be the defensive coordinator under Silverfield after not being retained by new Florida coach, Jon Sumrall.
In 2023, Wilson helped the Razorbacks’ secondary make an immediate turnaround in his first season guiding the group. The Razorbacks ranked fourth in the SEC in passing yards allowed per game with 202.8 yards, the program’s best effort since 2011 when they allowed 195.2 yards per game. Arkansas’ 12 interceptions ranked third in the league and the team’s four pick-sixes matched five other teams to lead all of FBS.
However, the passing defense regressed in 2024. Arkansas ranked 111th in passing yards allowed per game (246.9).
Silverfield’s staff is filling up. are all following Silverfield from Memphis to Fayetteville. The Southwest Times Record can confirm that Tim Cramsey (offensive coordinator), Larry Smith (wide receivers) and Jeff Myers (offensive line) are all following Silverfield from Memphis to Fayetteville.
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According to Zenitz, David Johnson is coming from Florida State to be the running backs coach, and Silverfield is hiring a second offensive line coach in Marcus Johnson, who was an assistant at Ohio State in 2025.
Defensively, Roberts and Wilson will be joined by CJ Wilford, who will coach safeties. Wilford spent the past season at Georgia State after working with Roberts at Florida from 2022-24. CBS Sports also reported that Silverfield is hiring Auburn’s Chad Lunsford to be Arkansas’ special teams coordinator.
Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@usatodayco.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Deron Wilson returning to Arkansas football as secondary coach | Report
