Renegade Rip Issue 5 Nov. 3, 2021

Page 4
Sportss
The Renegade Rip www.therip.com
BC coach talks Football
By Justin White
Reporter
After coaching for a multitude
of years that includes stints with
numerous Division I football
teams and even some time in the
National Football League, Robert
Todd Littlejohn has returned
home to Bakersfield to be the
head coach of the Renegades
football team.
Littlejohn grew up going to every
Renegade home game and following
the team for most of their
road games as well. Littlejohn was
with the Renegades previously as
a player during the 1983-84 seasons,
playing for coaches Gerry
Collis and Carl Bowser, and then
returned to BC as the defensive
backs coach for the 1990-91 seasons.
“A lot”, Littlejohn says laughing
when asked how much it
means to him to become the head
coach at BC. “My mom worked
here for, you know, 45 years, and
having, literally grown up and
watched all the great players that
have gone through here over the
years, having a chance to play on
this field, then having a chance to
come back and coach as an assistant,
my feeling towards Bakersfield
College even back then was
always big time, and so coming
back in this capacity is big time,
you know, to me.” Littlejohn was
actually hired last year, but the
COVID-19 pandemic prevented
him from coaching his first game
until the 2021 season.
“One of the difficulties was that
I didn’t have anybody to call to
ask ‘em ‘hey, how did you deal
with your first year as a head
coach in a year of pandemic?’
There’s nobody and nothing to
reference… we just stayed prepared
every day, ‘cause you never
knew when it was going to actually
happen and when the opportunity
came for our first game, we
were more focused on the techniques,
the fundamentals, the de-
COURTESY OF NICK ELLIS
BC Football coach R. Todd
Littlejohn
velopment overall as a team and
for players, and the continuity for
us as a staff… it wasn’t a ‘wait ‘till
we get to that point, let’s all of a
sudden do it’, we just continued to
prepare every day.”
Outside of BC, Littlejohn hascoached
at big time Division I
schools including UCLA, Syracuse,
and Cal-Berkeley. Most
recently before becoming head
coach at BC, Littlejohn spent
the previous two seasons as the
safeties and special teams coach
at Prairie View A&M in Texas.
Littlejohn’s coaching experience
doesn’t end at the college level
however, as he also coached for
the New York Giants and Jacksonville
Jaguars in the NFL.
In his first season as BC football’s
head coach, Littlejohn’s
Renegades have been ranked as
high as #7 in the state of California,
and currently hold a 4-3
record a little more than halfway
through the season. Their next
game will see them face Long
Beach College at home on Oct.
30.
For the full story, please
visit TheRip.com
Everything football
By Hilario Gomez
Reporter
Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021
The powerhouse players
Nothing makes sense.
Half of the football fans
are looking towards the
playoffs while the other
half is focusing on
the upcoming offseason
because frankly,
their teams’ postseason
hopes have dissipated.
For the lucky ones
that have football to
look forward to, both
professional and college
football slates are getting
quite juicy. The big
top ten matchups of the
weekend in the battle
for Michigan between
Michigan and Michigan
State.
The emergence of
impact offensive players
for both teams has
powered them into
the national spotlight.
For Michigan State,
it’s Wake Forest transfer
Kenneth Walker at
running back. Walker
looked promising at
Wake Forest but never
really broke out, as
many expected and the
change of scenery has
done wonders for the
junior running back.
While Michigan has
a shiny quarterback
from the state of Nevada
in Cade McNamara,
who has finally broken
onto the scene after two
quiet seasons in Ann
Arbor.
On the other hand,
Payton Thorne for the
Spartans, who was originally
a Western Michigan
commit, has been
playing just as good if
not more impressive
considering he’s a true
freshman.
Hilario Gomez
It’d be criminal not
to bring up Aidan
Hutchinson for the
Wolverines who have
created probably the
most buzz of any college
football players
this season with constant
dominant performances
week in and
week out. This week’s
matchup, although no
one could’ve imagined,
will be one of this year’s
best with two impressive
teams on the come up.
While in the professional
football world
the trade rumors and
playoff race is what’s
dominating the news
cycle. Deshaun Watson
is back in the headlines
with a trade seemingly
imminent and the ethics
of him playing football
again being such a
tantalizing topic once
again.
Other topics such as
the emergence of the
Cardinals and the Bengals
also is very prominent.
Both are leading
their conferences and
have dominant wins
over playoff teams that
have dominated the
league for quite a while.
It seems to be a changing
of the guard.