Sam Pittman stresses importance of mental health for players

One of the things that has started to change in recent years is how football players and teams approach mental health. That’s true all over the country and is something that head coach Sam Pittman and the Arkansas Razorbacks are taking seriously.

Pittman shared that the team talks about mental health a good deal and encourages treatment for its players while looking to grow and develop the program.

“Mental health is a big, big deal,” Sam Pittman said. “We talk about it. We have several guys that are in counseling — we encourage it.”

Pittman used the example of punter Max Fletcher. He was struggling due to criticism of his play online and Pittman explained that he stepped in to cheer him up and help him out.

“Fletcher was at practice on Monday. He’s lower than low. I walk by him, I become that counselor at times When I walked by him, I said, ‘Hey, Max. What’s wrong with you?’ Social media. I said, and I won’t tell you everything I said, but I said, ‘What they say, Max?'” Pittman said.

“I went to Australia to get a 10-yard punter and all this kind of stuff. Why’d you go all that way to get a guy who can’t kick? And I said, ‘Max, they didn’t say I’m fat there did they?’ He said, ‘Yes, sir.’ I said, ‘What about my chest? Do they say anything about that?’ He started smiling and he said, ‘Yes, sir.’ I said, ‘Was I supposed to get fired on Sunday?’ He said, ‘Yes, sir.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m still here. They got two out of three right.”

For Sam Pittman and the Arkansas program, acknowledging mental health is an important step in building the program. Pittman also acknowledged that there are new challenges for young people today, in particular things like social media.

“And I think a big part for him was he punted once for 53 yards and then he did the fake and I was really happy for him, but to answer your question, we talk about a lot of things and one of them happens to be mental health that we need to help these kids,” Pittman said.

“There’s a lot more going on in their life right now than possibly when I was a kid. I think a lot of it has to do with this (Pittman raised his phone). There’s a lot of good about this but there’s also if you get going in the wrong direction with it, it can spoil your day or whatever. So, yes, to answer your question.”

Sam Pittman gave a hopeful update on Rocket Sanders

Ahead of a key game against Texas A&M, Sam Pittman gave a hopeful update on the status of Rocket Sanders.

“Well, I’m as confident as I’ve been since the Western Carolina game. I would be lying to you if I told you that I’m sure he’s going to play. I feel better about his opportunity to play, but we still have to see how he recovered from yesterday’s limited reps that he participated in and go from there. But, he — this week I thought he was further ahead on Monday than what I thought he would be. Didn’t swell up too bad on him yesterday,” Pittman said.

“We’ll give him a little less reps today and then see where he’s at on Thursday. But, we’re obviously hoping he can play.”