Meet Coach Nevits

Bill Nevits really enjoys working with kids. He says he enjoys teaching the players commitment and responsibility while they learn the fundamentals of football. He always stresses the importance of scholastics. He tells his players that being good students should be their first priority and athletics should come next. His players have been recognized as all-American scholar-athletes by Pop Warner and AYF. Many of his players have gone on to play college football while earning their college degree. Bill takes great pride in the letters he receives from them thanking him for the role he played in their development.

Bill’s football career started in Cleveland Ohio where he played sandlot and high school football. After graduating from Lincoln High School he enlisted in the Navy and is a Korean War veteran. While stationed at the Norfolk Virginia naval base he played two years of service football with the Norfolk Tars. After completing his four-year tour of duty, he enrolled at Ohio University where he played freshman football and earned an electrical engineering degree. After graduation Bill moved to New Hartford, NY to accept a position with the General Electric Co. At General Electric he quickly moved from an individual contributor in to the managerial ranks. He was managing a Test Equipment Engineering Unit when he retired in 1992.

He started coaching the New Hartford Bears, a Pop Warner Midget level team (11, 12 and 13 year olds) in 1971. He accepted the Bear head coach position and program administrator responsibilities for the New Hartford organization in 1974. He served as secretary-treasurer of the Tri County Central Youth Football League in from 1978 through 2003. Tri County Central joined American Youth Football in 2001 in order to establish age and weight limits compatible with the local area school systems. In 2006 the Tri County Youth Football League folded and the Bears rejoined Pop Warner as a member of the Tri Valley Football Conference. The Bears are now a Jr.Midget Team with a minimum weight limit of 80 pounds and a maximum weight limit of 130 pounds for players age 11 or 12. The maximum weight limit for 13 year old players is 110 pounds.

Bill had a hip replacement during the 2006 season and was unable to coach after the second game. He did continue, with the help of Mr. Joseph T. Deyo, to function as the New Hartford Pop Warner Football Program Administrator as the program had another excellent year.

His trophy case displays 11 team championship trophies and his wall displays a number of plaques. It has several team scholastic achievement plaques won by the Bears and a number of plaques presented to him by former players and coaches. They surround three plaques he received from the New Hartford Rotary Club, the Town of New Hartford and New Hartford High School in recognition of his contributions to the youth of the community.