Pittman Press Conference Interactions Inspire Mediocrity

Only thing Sam Pittman hasn't done is outright admit he has no idea what's going on

Author:
Daniel Shi
Updated:
Nov 27, 2023 11:56 AM EST
Original:
Nov 25, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As the season wound down, it became clear that the most entertaining moments of the season were not going to be on the field, but rather postgame and Mondays at noon where coach Sam Pittman would try and give a State of the Union on the Arkansas football program.

As the season began to unravel, so did his grip on the press conferences. What was once seen as a refreshing brutal sense of honesty, is now seen as simply not having a clue of what's going on. The most recent example came this weekend after Razorbacks' 48-14 loss in the season finale where a Pittman simply refused to answer a simple question. How do you build momentum in the offseason off this performance?

"I don't know,. Somebody else. Next."

Anyone who has watched any of these Monday press conferences is well aware of the constant "things of that nature" Pittman loves to employ, but more concerning is the amount of times Pittman has either said "I don't know" or thrown his hands up. The most pressing concern is just how many times Pittman either seems lost or uninterested in the issue at hand. When former offensive coordinator Dan Enos was fired, he simply had no answer as to why they couldn't run the same plays they did in practice.

If you only watched the Monday press conference after the 48-10 loss to Auburn and Eric Musselman's press conference after the basketball team's 86-77 win over Old Dominion, you would think the results would have been flipped. Pittman was the one who lost, not Musselman. As the season has fallen apart at the seams, so have Pittman's standards. Joking about Polar Express-Gate, informing the rest of the world that he hasn't seen the movie is a hallmark of losing control of his team.

The only thing he hasn't done is come out and admit he has no idea what's going on. We have been offered sneak peeks behind the curtain, such as Pittman admitting that he had no idea that there was a TV in the locker room. Redshirt locker room or not, it's still part of the Arkansas team.

Pittman has always been lauded as a nice guy and understood as someone who "gets Arkansas," but shutting down a reporter after the fourth smallest Fayetteville attendance isn't what the Razorbacks faithful deserve.

There are ways to inspire confidence despite a 4-8 season. It's happened across the country, but throwing your hands up in confusion and things of that nature won't do it. Arkansas fans are too familiar with that phrase already. It's already happening, fans are starting to turn on Pittman with a long dark winter ahead.