Regis Jesuit hires new football coach from Arizona school
Regis Jesuit has named Dan Filleman as its new football coach, hiring him from a school in Arizona.
The news was first reported by the Arizona Republic on Thursday night, and again by the Aurora Sentinel on Friday.
Regis Jesuit athletic director Kelly Doherty confirmed the hire on Friday morning, as well.
Filleman had been the coach at Liberty in Peoria, Ariz. since 2008, where he was 66-19. He replaces Mark Nolan — who, coincidentally, left for Notre Dame Prep in Arizona in late March.
Liberty is a Division II school in Arizona, meaning it plays in the second-highest classification. It advanced to the Division II championship last season, and lost to Centennial in the final. The Lions were 12-2 last season.
In Filleman’s first season, Liberty went 6-6. That was the school’s first year as a varsity program. Since then, it won at least eight games every season, and hit double-digit victories in four of his seven seasons. (Liberty also went 7-1 as a junior varsity program in 2007, which Filleman also oversaw.)
In building the program, Filleman had a steep challenge. Nearby Centennial is a power program which won titles in 2006, 2007, and 2008 (and again in 2014), and also advanced to the title game in 2005, 2010 and 2012.
According to his bio on the official Liberty football site, Filleman was also an assistant at Ironwood in Glendale, Ariz., for nine seasons. He attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz., and played football and hockey there.
He takes over a Regis Jesuit program when went 10-2 last season, and advanced to the Class 5A quarterfinals.
Follow all of the offseason moves in our football coaching changes tracker.
