Butler High names longtime CMS assistant Donald Littlejohn head football coach

Donald Littlejohn is finally a head football coach in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

After trying, and failing, to get several jobs in the past, Littlejohn has been named head coach at Butler High, a longtime N.C. state power.

Littlejohn, who an assistant at Butler in 2023, will replace Mecklenburg County coaching legend Brian Hales, and will be the Bulldogs’ third coach in two seasons.

Hales initially retired after the 2023 season, and the Bulldogs hired former Chambers state champion Glenwood Ferebee. Ferebee lasted one season, and Hales came back as an interim coach last fall.

Littlejohn is the second coach from Sam Greiner’s West Charlotte team to get a head coaching job this cycle.

Robert Washington, who was the Lions’ defensive coordinator last season, was recently named head coach at Independence.

Littlejohn, 41, was recognized by The Observer in December in a series of emerging leaders in Charlotte.

His father, also named Donald, was athletic director for 39 years at Cochrane Junior High (later Cochrane Middle School) and was the first Black person to win the Charlotte City Amateur golf championship, which he won in 1989 and 1991. The gym at Cochrane was named after the older Littlejohn in 2001.

The older Littlejohn died in 2010, three years before his son became an assistant coach at national power Mallard Creek.

In fact, Littlejohn was an assistant (wide receivers, strength and conditioning) on three state championship football teams at Mallard Creek, from 2013-15, and was head coach of Mallard Creek’s 2015 state championship track team.

In 2015, he was named The Observer’s regional coach of the year and N.C. state track coach of the year by the US Track and Field.

After Mallard Creek, Littlejohn coached on two more state championship football teams. He was offensive coordinator for Rock Hill South Pointe’s 2021 title team and was quarterbacks coach for Sam Greiner’s 2024 West Charlotte team, which won the NCHSAA 3A state championship.

In the December interview with The Observer, Littlejohn said he always wanted to be in this position.

“The seed was planted early, through my own experiences with coaches and educators who believed in men and held me accountable beyond the field,” he said. “I saw firsthand how structure, expectations and genuine relationships could change the trajectory of young people’s lives.

“As I grew into coaching and education, I realized the impact goes far beyond wins and losses. It’s about providing opportunities, stability and belief to students who may not have it elsewhere.

“That’s where my desire to lead and build something meaningful truly began.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 2:36 PM.