New York Dragons name Gerald Filardi as head coach
Gerard Filardi, named coach of the Dragons, also is high school coach at Hills West. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
The New York Dragons named Gerald Filardi as the team's first head coach and director of football operations on Tuesday morning.
Filardi, the current coach at Half Hollow Hills West High School, said he’s fired up to meet the challenge of guiding a fledgling franchise in the Entertainment Football Association.
“A friend reached out about the new arena league team on Long Island, and it sparked my interest and was something I wanted to pursue,” said Filardi, a 1992 Whitman graduate who played his collegiate football for Penn State. “It becomes a reality now and I’m excited to get started building the team.”
Filardi will also remain as the coach at Hills West, where he guided the Colts to a 9-2 record and the Suffolk League III final in the fall. His career record for six years is 34-20.
The ENTFLA and high schools do not conflict and Filardi said he expects to continue as the coach at Hills West.
“The New York Dragons are thrilled to welcome Gerald as the man who will lead us onto the field for our inaugural ENTFLA season,” Dragons general manager Peter Schwartz said in a statement. “He checked all the boxes for us in our search for a Head Coach. Gerald is a proven leader and winner who is driven to grow football on Long Island at all levels. He shares our vision of building a championship roster loaded with Long Island and area talent.”
Filardi was an inside linebacker for Penn State from 1992-96. He was part of an undefeated team in 1994 that beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl. In his senior year he played in Penn State’s win over Texas and running backs Priest Holmes and Ricky Williams in the Fiesta Bowl in 1996.
He was invited as a free agent to the summer camps for the Jets, Steelers, and Ravens before he was drafted by the Ohio Cannons of the Regional Football League.
“I bounced around, but I was grateful for the professional opportunities,” Filardi said. “I know what it means to be invited to play at the next level, whether it be the arena league or the NFL. There is a ton of talent looking for that chance.”
Filardi was a Hansen Award finalist in 1991, presented to Newsday’s top player from Suffolk. He was an All-Long Island first-team selection and is Whitman’s all-time leading tackler with 346.
He also experienced a short tryout camp with the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League.
“I would like to put together a team comprised of Long Island and New York players to build a dynamic, high-scoring offense that electrifies the arena,” Filardi said.
“I am excited to welcome Coach Filardi to the ENTFLA family,” league founder and owner Douglas Freeman in a statement. “He embodies everything that you would look for in a head coach in terms of character, leadership, success on the field, and his love for football on Long Island.”
Schwartz said the organization will announce details about open tryouts soon. Training camp is expected to begin in May with the 2025 season opening on June 7 in Danbury, Connecticut, against the Diesel. The Dragons' home opener will be on June 14 against the New Jersey Ciphers at Nassau Coliseum.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
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