Littlestown keeps football program in the family by hiring former player as head coach

Littlestown has not only stayed in-house for its next football coach, they have named a former Bolt to fill the position.

Corey Bittle was among the fall coaches approved Monday by the Littlestown school board.

Bittle graduated from Littlestown in 1988 and played at Lycoming College. When he and his wife returned to the area, he joined the high school football staff and became a social studies teacher in 2004. He is also the head coach for the track and field program.

"Today's been hectic so far," Bittle said Tuesday morning. "I'm excited to get started and be working with the players and coaches. The players have been in a state of limbo for quite some time."

That limbo was created when Mike Lippy stepped down earlier this year. He was the longest-tenured coach in the YAIAA, leading the Bolts to a 142-76 record in his 20-year stint. They made the playoffs 14 times, winning one of the three District 3 championships in which they played.

Bittle was on the sidelines during Lippy's run, most recently as the defensive coordinator. He was also on staff for some of the eight years Lippy served as an assistant coach.

But all of that time on Lippy's staff doesn't mean the Bolts are automatically going to continue with "Air Lippy."

"We are going to do whatever it takes to win," Bittle said. "We are going to go with what's working. There are a lot of good things that we've done over the years with throwing the ball, but we've also done good things running the ball and with our defense."

Bittle addresses blackface photo: "It was in poor taste"

Bittle thought it was humorous when he and wife dressed as OJ and Nicole Simpson to attend a Halloween party in 1999 or 2000, kind of like he was bringing a "Saturday Night Live" skit to real life.

His jersey had Simpson's number, and he wore a wig similar to the running back's hairstyle back in his playing days. He had a knife in the hand of his arm wrapped around his wife, and his face was painted black.

A screenshot of the photo was sent to the York Daily Record last week without explanation. Bittle said the photo has been around for years and has been talked about at the school several times. After a quick "no comment" when first asked about the photo, he called back hours later with a full explanation.

He said he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"It's in bad taste, but I didn't realize that at the time," he said of the costume he wore when he was in his late 20s. "I didn't realize how offensive it was to other people at that time. I wanted to dress up like a skit in 'Saturday Night Live.'"

Bittle said it wasn't until he spoke with a parent this year that he heard the perspective from a member of the Black community.

He also didn't look at things from the role of a victim, of how it looks to people touched by domestic violence.

"I tried to use this as a learning tool. I tried to be a little more guarded," he said. "Yes, it was in poor taste."

He has talked with students and his three children about the photo.

"I wouldn't do anything like that today," Bittle said.

Bolts return strong core group for Bittle's first season

Rising senior Zion Herr is among 10 players who were named first-, second-team or honorable mention Division III all-stars last season by league coaches.

Herr was a first-team wide receiver and cornerback, and was named honorable mention at athlete, kicker, punter and returner. He averaged over 25 yards a catch to finish among the league leaders with nearly 700 yards receiving. Herr also scored seven touchdowns.

Alex Popoff threw for more than 1,600 yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior in his first year as Littlestown's starting quarterback. He was named a second-team all-star.

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Rising senior Colby Hahn was the other Bolt to get a first-team nod, leading the defense at outside linebacker. He also averaged a tick over 4 yards per carry to finish with nearly 500 yards rushing to make second team at running back.

Bittle said he considered going other places over the years, but always quickly came back to Littlestown.

"I have lived in Littlestown all of my life," Bittle said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ydr.com or on Twitter @ShelStallsmith. 

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Littlestown Thunderbolts football hires Corey Bittle as head coach