AURORA | While its old head football coach departed for Arizona, Regis Jesuit is hiring a coach from that same state to fill its open job.
On Friday, the school announced the hiring of Danny Filleman, formerly of Peoria Liberty, to replace Mark Nolan, who earlier departed for Notre Dame Prep in Scottsdale.
Filleman led Liberty to Arizona’s Division II championship game for the first time last season and takes over a Regis Jesuit program that went 10-2 and lost in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state playoffs to eventual state champion Cherry Creek last year.
According to the Arizona Republic — which first reported the hire on Thursday — Filleman never had a losing record at Liberty, which went 66-19 in his time on the sideline. The program won 10 or more games on four occasions under Filleman, including a school-record 12 in the 2014 season. Included in that was a 35-10 win over the Notre Dame Prep team that Nolan’s taking over. Both losses Liberty suffered last season came to the same team, Centennial, the second in the Division II final.
A press release from Regis Jesuit also listed Filleman’s coaching resume with a stint at Ironwood High School from 1999 to 2005 before he took over at Liberty, which was Independent state runner-up in 2008, state champion runner-up in 2014 and a state quarterfinalist in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
The school also said that Filleman would be teaching for the school and running weight classes in addition to his head football duties.
Filleman’s hire fills all known openings among Aurora programs ahead of the 2015 season, as he joins the ranks of newcomers Travis Peeples (Aurora Central), Justin Hoffman (Rangeview), John Trahan (Smoky Hill) and John Sullivan (Vista PEAK).
Nolan had a 49-21 record in the past six seasons at Regis Jesuit and the Raiders appeared in the 5A state playoffs every season. The Raiders make the 5A state championship game in 2010 before falling to parochial school rival Mullen at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
