By Mike Lamberti
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Four Essex County high school football coaches will be inducted into the Essex County Football Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame at the 31st annual Paul Robeson Football Classic on Tuesday, June 10. The game will return to Paul Robeson Stadium in East Orange for the first time since 2022. Kickoff time is 7 p.m.
Joining the Hall of Fame will be Darnel Mangan Sr., Anthony Rea, Jamie Bittner and the late Anthony Bailey Sr.
Mangan, known as “Coach Tyson,” is a highly respected football coach and mentor, with more than two decades of experience in coaching and mentoring. He began his coaching career in 2005, as an assistant at Malcolm X Shabazz High School. He was just 21 at the time. He has also been an assistant coach at Irvington High School for four years, helping that program win a state championship in 2021.
Mangan was the head football coach at Barringer High, from 2010-2012, and was an assistant high school football coach at Weequahic, Columbia and Irvington. He also served on the collegiate level as an assistant at Caldwell University
Mangan has also been an assistant youth football coach for the Brick City Lions 12U program since 2020. The team won a national title in 2022.
Rea is the current head coach at Montclair Kimberley Academy (MKA) and has been at the helm since 2014. He has a career record of 54-50 at the Montclair-based school. He also served as an assistant football coach at William Paterson University.
Rea attended Summit High School, and later Gettysburg College, before starting his high school coaching career. Although MKA has one of the smallest enrollments of any football team in Essex County, Rea has maintained a roster of more than 40 players, and his teams remain highly competitive. He also represents Essex County at 7-on-7 tournaments, clinics and other events.
Bittner was a long-time assistant football coach at Montclair High, after previously serving as a head coach at Bogota (65-44-4, two state finals) and Emerson (8-12, after inheriting a program with 11 wins in the previous five seasons).
Bittner spent 23 years as an assistant at Montclair. During that time, Bittner served as defensive coordinator and a guiding force behind a program that won five state championships and made 12 state finals. Bittner also founded the Montclair High chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was voted FCA Coach of the Year in 2014, and was inducted into the New Jersey Football Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
In addition to his decorated coaching career, Bittner also had a stellar playing career. Under legendary head coach Tom Falato, Bittner was a three-year starter at running back and linebacker at Emerson. He also earned another seven varsity letters over his high school career: four in basketball and three in baseball. The University of Delaware would be Bittner’s next stop. At defensive end, he was a two-year starter and impact player on the 1979 national championship team. He was also voted the ECAC Player of the Week on defense twice over his college career. He still holds the University of Delaware record for most sacks in a single game, with six. Bittner signed with the Cleveland Browns upon graduating in 1982. Unfortunately, his career was cut short by several knee injuries.
Bittner has been married to his wife, Lisa, for 44 years. They have three children – son Ryan, and daughters Noelle and daughter Elizabeth –and four grandchildren – grandsons Ryan, Luke, and Matthew, and granddaughter Elle.
Bailey was a 1976 graduate of Barringer High. He would attend Imperial Valley College, in California, where he earned an associate degree. From there, Anthony earned a bachelor’s degree from Southwestern College, in Kansas. He would return to New Jersey after graduation, where he began his career in education, at St. Michael Elementary School, in Newark. He would later teach science at Essex Catholic High in East Orange, and began his football coaching career there, in 1989. Bailey later became head football coach at Essex Catholic, and put together an amazing football legacy before retiring, in 2019.
Bailey is survived by his wife, Annatte, and three sons – Reginald, Anthony Jr. and Darin (Jasmine). Bailey passed away on Dec. 9, 2024.
The Robeson Football Classic, featuring seniors from six counties, was played at Belleville High School’s Municipal Stadium in each of the past two years, while Robeson Stadium was under renovation.
The East squad consists of players from Essex, Union and Hudson counties, while the West squad consists of players from Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties.
Photos Courtesy of Mike Lamberti
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