Sam Pittman fires back at reporter during tense press conference moment: 'What the hell are we doing'

Sam Pittman‘s seat as Arkansas‘ head football coach remains in a constant simmering state as he enters his sixth season in Fayetteville. The 63-year-old veteran coach certainly understands his predicament and has generally handled most questions about his Razorbacks future with grace.

But there’s only so much a man can take. One particular interjection inside a question about second-year Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino — a former Razorbacks head coach himself — proved too much for Pittman to let slide during a press conference Saturday following the team’s second preseason scrimmage.

“A lot of talk about Year 2 under Bobby — I guess Year 6 under you doesn’t sound quite as exciting to the eye — have you learned anything … I’m sorry,” the reporter said, realizing his mistake mid-question as Pittman furrowed his brow at the implication.

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“Was there a question in there, or what the hell are we doing?” Pittman interrupted, before awkwardly laughing and looking in the direction of an Arkansas staffer as the young reporter struggled to clarify his point, apologizing again.

Daniel Shi — the assistant sports editor at the school’s student-run newspaper, The Arkansas Traveler — acknowledged his error in how he phrased the question in a post to X/Twitter on Sunday.

“I messed up. I apologized to Sam afterwards and he was kind when he didn’t have to be,” Shi wrote. “His reaction was more than fair. I wish I could have that moment back a million times over, but that’s life.”

Of course, as this situation revealed, life hasn’t been particularly easy for either Pittman or the Razorbacks this offseason, even after guiding Arkansas to a Liberty Bowl win over Texas Tech to finish the 2024 season at 7-6 overall and 3-5 in the SEC.

Sam Pittman updates where his health stands entering 2025 after hip surgery

Sam Pittman underwent successful hip surgery following the conclusion of Arkansas‘ 2024 regular season. He had a noticeable limp during the season and despite knowing he needed the procedure, elected to wait until after the season to go under the knife.

Pittman is still in recovery from the hip surgery but feels rejuvenated heading into the upcoming season. He updated where his health stands at the start of fall camp this week.

“It’s frustrating when you can’t do what you want to do. I mean, it’s frustrating,” Pittman told reporters on Thursday. “And guys, to be honest with you coaching getting off a cart, it’s not the same as being right next to (the players on the sideline). It’s just not. So yeah, I feel good. I feel good — I wouldn’t feel as good if I didn’t feel as good about the team. I feel really good because I feel good about the team.”

Despite the timing of the surgery, Pittman was still able to coach in the Liberty Bowl to finish Arkansas’ season. Pittman was forced to coach the Missouri game last year from the boxes, which in a bad weather environment it was speculated that he wanted to be more sure of his footing. That came despite knowing since prior to the start of the season that he was going to need the surgery.

Despite needing surgery for all of last fall, Pittman still coached the Razorbacks to a six-win regular season — good enough to qualify for a bowl game after missing out on the postseason in 2023 after a four-win finish.

— On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report.