Brey Cook hired for alumni & high school relations

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Ryan Silverfield has wasted no time in backing up his statements that recruiting and relationships within state borders are critical to the success of the Arkansas football program.

Within 24 hours of being hired as the 35th head coach of the Razorbacks, Silverfield caught the fanbase’s attention when he flipped four top 2026 in-state recruits to the Hogs from Power 4 programs.

In all, just over more than half of the high school prospects Arkansas inked are from The Natural State.

“We signed 19 kids, alright, high school kids,” Silverfield said earlier this month. “10 of them are from the state of Arkansas.. Let me say that again, 10 of the 19 are from the state of Arkansas. So, like, I think that proves a point how important this state is to us and what we are trying to get accomplished here.”

Silverfield recently re-completed his staff, having to make two more late hires after quarterbacks coach Clint Trickett and defensive line coach Marion Hobby pursued other opportunities. One of the additions – to many within the fanbase’s delight – was former Razorback offensive lineman and graduate assistant coach Brey Cook to fill the role of Manager of Alumni and High School Relations.

Cook, a Springdale Har-Ber alumnus, played in 48 games with 30 starts for Arkansas between 2011-14 and returned to Fayetteville as a GA for the 2016 and 2017 seasons during the Bret Bielema era.

HawgBeat caught up with Cook in an exclusive interview to find out more about what his new role entails.

Following Cook’s time as a GA at Arkansas, he crossed over to Memphis during the 2018 season where he held a similar position under then-Tigers head coach Mike Norvell, as well as Silverfield, who was Norvell’s offensive line coach and top assistant from 2016-19 before the former was promoted to head coach of the team in 2020.

From there, Cook had a stint as offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Division II Southwest Baptist University before coming back to Arkansas to take his first high school head coaching job at Pea Ridge, a title he held from 2021-24.

Since stepping down at Pea Ridge Cook, 32, has dipped his toes in multiple content creation ventures that include covering high school sports with Varsity Vibe and co-hosting/producing The Coaches Pod.

When his mentor became the new Head Hog, interest to work with him again was immediate.

“Coach Silverfield has really been a guy that I kept in contact with ever since I was a graduate assistant with him in 2018 at Memphis so he’s been a mentor that I’ve talked to very regularly,” Cook told HawgBeat. “When the job first came open he was one of the first people I talked about it. And he said, man, this would be a great opportunity for you and I think you would be a great fit for what Arkansas needs right now.

“As that conversation continued over the fall, there was an opportunity after he got hired and it turned out to be an opportunity where I think that with my experience of being a player and, of course, my high school head coaching time is a good fit.”

Cook has been on the job for less than a month, but he couldn’t be happier to be home and a part of the new regime that is working to turn around the program.

“It has been surreal,” he said. “It has been pretty incredible to jump back in and be back here at the Fred W. Smith Center and then be around the players, the team and this incredible staff that Ryan has put together.”

3 Priorities

The No. 1 question, what will Cook’s duties entail?

“The way I see my job is really, my Top 3 priorities are to make sure that the facility and the coaches, our coaches here at Arkansas, are open to the high school coaches in the state of Arkansas 24/7,” Cook said.

“That’s the first priority. The second priority is to make sure that every high school recruit in the state of Arkansas has a chance to get evaluated. And so that means collecting their information and making sure I’m in contact with their coaches. If it is a kid that we are heavily recruiting, making sure that we have everything we need to keep in contact with him. And then, my third obligation is to make sure these doors and hallways are open to all of our alumni, so they can come back, be around practice, be around the team, be around our team meetings, and just be involved.”

Speaking of alumni, that has been a hot topic in recent memory. Former running back Peyton Hillis has publicly spoken about it on multiple occasions, then there was the whole incident in 2024 with record-setting wide receiver Jarius Wright and others allegedly not getting locker room access following a game.

Cook wants all Razorback alumni to know that his line is open.

“I can’t speak on what has happened in the past, but from what I understand and my experience is the biggest thing that opens the door to our alumni and the guys that have played here is communication,” Cook said. “And it’s quite simply making sure that everyone who has walked these hallways has a point of contact here that they can call me anytime.

“Also that I can navigate some of the ins and outs of coming to practice making sure they have got the clearance, making sure people know that they are going to arrive and be around in the locker room. It really just comes down to being a communicator. And that is my biggest role is making sure the guys have the opportunity and a point of contact to get back here.”

Along with familiar faces returning to see the latest renovations and current players, there is also something in the works for the Red-White spring game on April 25.

“As far as future plans, we have already had a couple of alumni that we talked to and I have actually talked to several alumni,” Cook continued. “We’ve had a couple already come up and tour the facility, guys that have not been up here in 10, 20, 30 years have come up to see the players, saw some workouts.

“They were able to just be around the program. That’s the first immediate steps is just inviting guys back. It is going to be a big focal point, making sure that the alumni are invited back to every practice, but we are really pushing for the big reunion at that spring game.”

Equal Chances for Evaluation

Reversing back to Cook’s first two priorities, just as he wants the Razorback alumni to understand he is available the same applies to high school coaches.

He has already made an effort to reach out to prep coaches from across the state.

“That is exactly what I’ve been doing over the last, really, 3 weeks,” Cook said. “I have called every single high school coach in the state of Arkansas that I have contact information for. And the coaches that I
have not been able to call or text I have reached out to their administration to get some contact information. So, it has been a priority to make sure that we have open lines of communication with all these coaches and that has been exactly what I’ve been doing.”

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