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 offensive line 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, and 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.

“Was there a question in there, or what the Hell are we doing?” Pittman interjected, 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 easy for both Pittman and the Razorbacks, even after helping guide Arkansas to a Liberty Bowl win to finish the 2024 season at 7-6 overall and 3-5 in the SEC.

This report will be updated.