Here me out, I’ve watched the video a half a dozen times, his body language shows mild anger, but it doesn’t match his inflammatory rhetoric.

I think it was a calculated move to prevent Whitt from saying something really stupid. He went up right before Whitt, said what Whitt would have said, and prevented the Coach from saying something that could do long term damage. After all who really cares what the AD says, he will get a fine, school will pay it, but he isn’t the face.