About a month after Sam Pittman landed his first major head-coaching job at Arkansas in December 2019, after working more than a quarter-century as a college assistant, he wanted nothing more than to share the news with his first coach -- his father.
Donald Pittman, a longtime coach, teacher and administrator in the Oklahoma public school system, was living out his final days at a nursing home near Tulsa. Sam's 90-year-old father was suffering from dementia.
"Dad had days when he was on and off," said Ron Pittman, Sam's older brother. "There were days when he would seem like he was in touch with what was going on, and other days when he didn't know who you were.