AURORA | The Regis Jesuit football team has prepared for Friday night’s Class 5A second round state playoff game without coach Danny Filleman, who will also not coach in the game due to a 1-game suspension imposed by the school.
Veteran assistant Bob McPhee will the interim head coach when the sixth-seeded Raiders (6-4) play host to the 11th-seeded Wolves (7-4) at 6:30 p.m. at Lou Kellogg Stadium. It will be the first meeting of the nearby Aurora programs in a decade (see capsule preview, here).
Filleman will return to his duties on Monday according to a statement sent to the Sentinel from Regis Jesuit spokesperson Charisse Broderick King.
“The suspension is in response to a concerning video that surfaced recently on social media in which Coach Filleman was seen to be celebrating a victory with the team to a song with lyrics misaligned with the mission and values of Regis Jesuit High School,” the statement said. “Though the video was posted on October 20, school administrators were only made aware of it on November 2 and took immediate action.”
Regis Jesuit enters the playoffs on a three-game winning streak.
Filleman is the longest-tenured coach in Aurora football as he was hired in 2015. In nine seasons, he has an 85-28 record with the Raiders and has led the program to the 5A playoffs in every season, highlighted by a semifinal berth in 2016.
“We have full confidence in Coach Filleman and his leadership of the program as we learn from this experience and move forward from it in a positive direction,” the statement from Broderick King continued. “At Regis Jesuit, we believe our athletics program serves as an extension of the holistic formational environment we provide to our students in everything we do. We are committed to ensuring that our coaches and student-athletes uphold the values we espouse as they represent our school.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports