By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
After an impressive run of success, Topeka High's football program has struggled in recent seasons, posting a 6-27 record over the past four years, including back-to-back 1-8 campaigns.
New Topeka High head football coach Jason Filbeck talks to his new team Friday morning at High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But that didn't dissuade former Augusta coach Jason Filbeck from going after the Trojans' head coaching job.
In fact, the challenge of turning the Topeka High program back around excited the 43-year-old Filbeck, who was approved by the USD 501 school board Thursday night as High's new coach and met with the Trojan players Friday morning.
"You're never more alive than when you're challenged, right?'' Filbeck said. "If it were easy everybody would do it. I'm sure it would be really cool to come into a place that was ready-made and already winning, but there's potential here and this could become one of those places that everybody looks at as, 'Man, that's a great job.'
"I think it's already a great job, it's just about whether you've got the ability and the energy to do it. I think Topeka High can become a great place football-wise.''
Filbeck said the opportunity to guide his own program at the Class 6A level was a big selling point for him.
"I've always been a big-school guy and when you work in a small town sometimes your numbers just dry up,'' Filbeck said. "Sometimes you just don't have the number of kids you need. I know they don't have a million kids out for football here at Topeka but we're going to get them out of the hallways. We're going to get them to play.
"I view football as an avenue to reach kids and I believe in what we're selling, I believe in what we're teaching kids to become better people through the process. At a school like Topeka High I have a chance to reach 120 kids instead of 40 and obviously there's tradition here and there's potential for good stuff here. That's what excites me about the job.''
Filbeck grew up in Liberty, Mo. and played wide receiver at Baker University before launching his coaching career.
Filbeck was an assistant at the middle school level in the Blue Valley district and spent a decade as an assistant coach at Shawnee Mission East before taking his first head coaching job at 4A Augusta, where he posted a 45-51 record in 10 seasons.
"I really wanted to be a head coach so I took a chance 10 years ago to go out to Augusta,'' Filbeck said. "My wife is from Wichita and her family lived in Wichita still, so we thought we could make that jump and make it work.''
The Orioles posted six .500 or better seasons under Filbeck, including a 7-3 season and a pair of 6-4 campaigns. Augusta went 2-7 last fall.
"We had 10 years of success in Augusta for what they had been used to,'' Filbeck said. "We look over a pretty rough program and got them in the playoffs right away and learned a lot.
"It was my first head coaching job and I was 34 years old and learned a lot in those 10 years and made a lot of good friendships down there, but the job here at Topeka was just too good to not go for.''
Topeka High's lone win this past fall came against Emporia as Carlos Kelly's Trojans had just a handful of seniors on their roster.
In Friday's meeting with his new players Filbeck outlined his hopes of being able to hold practices at Topeka High after decades of practicing off campus at Chandler Field and part-time at Hummer Sports Park since that facility opened.
Jason Filbeck accepted the job as head football coach at Topeka High after a decade at Augusta. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Filbeck said it was good to meet his players Friday and get the ball rolling on his long to-do list.
"I had to meet the kids and let them know that I was going to invest in them,'' he said. "I've got to find a good coaching staff of high-quality guys and character is No. 1.
"We've got to get good men that these kids can look up to and try to emulate. That's a priority and then down the list is all the football stuff that will come.''
Topeka High is scheduled to begin offseason weight training on June. 3 and will hold a team camp July 8-12.
