Officially, Jeff Filkovski has been the head football coach at Marietta (Ohio) College for just 15 days.

It could be much longer before he has the time to enjoy his new position.

"I had my brother tell me, 'You don't seem too excited,'" Filkovski said. "I told him, 'I've got a million things on my mind.' Once I get my staff completed, and we start working toward the same goal ... once I get out on the field for spring practice, the realization will set in."

For Filkovski, a 1987 graduate of Penn-Trafford High School, the head coaching position is his first. Previously, he had been an assistant at the college level with Holy Cross, Cincinnati and Thomas More, and in the pro ranks with the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe.

Most recently, Filkovski was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of Heidelberg College, which, like Marietta, plays in the NCAA Division III Ohio Athletic Conference.

At Marietta, Filkovski replaces Curt Wiese, who resigned after two seasons to become the offensive coordinator at Minnesota-Duluth.

"I've gone in a couple of different directions in my career," Filkovski said. "I've been a coordinator, but people have goals and dreams of where they want to be. Becoming a head coach is something I really want to do."

Filkovski, 40, has a history of success at the Division III level dating back to his playing days.

After starting at quarterback for three seasons for Penn-Trafford, Filkovski eventually wound up at Allegheny College in Meadville. During his senior season in 1990, he led the Gators to the Division III national title.

In his only season as a starter, Filkovski passed for 2,152 yards and 22 touchdowns, as Allegheny went 13-0-1. For his efforts, Filkovski was named the Football Gazette Division III Offensive Player of the Year.

"That national title team, I vividly recall the influences that kept us focused and determined," Filkovski said. "The leadership and the intensity, those are the things I want to pass along to my new team. Those things will obviously help them."

When his playing career ended, Filkovski started his coaching career with Holy Cross in 1992. He didn't return to the Division III level until 2006, when he was the quarterbacks coach for Thomas More under head coach Mike Hallett. Following the '06 season, Hallett was named the head coach at Heidelberg, and Filkovski joined him at the Ohio school.

Heidelberg entered last year with a 36-game losing streak, but opened the 2007 season with a victory on its way to a 4-6 season. Filkovski was named the OAC's co-Assistant Coach of the Year after leading the Student Princes to the third-best scoring offense (25.1 points per game) in the conference.

"Everywhere Jeff has been, he's flourished," said Larry Hiser, Marietta's director of athletics. "Programs that he's been a part of have done well, whether Jeff has been there as a player or a coach.

"His most-recent experience is a case-in-point. He was only at Heidelberg for a year, but he made a big impact on that program during a short amount of time."

Hallett said it was difficult to lose his assistant, but knows Filkovski made the right choice in moving to Marietta.

"The thing with Jeff, it's easy to see that he has an outstanding football mind," Hallett said. "He had a decision to make career-wise. Did he want to be a head coach at a small school or get back into Division I, like he was at Cincinnati?

"I knew he would have the opportunities either way. Marietta is a great situation for him to get his first head coaching job."

In making the move to Marietta, Filkovski said he was impressed by the school's commitment to its football program. Staying in the OAC -- which boasts national powers such as Mount Union, Ohio Northern and Capital -- also was a selling point.

"When you're on the outside looking in at this conference, you don't realize how good the football is," Filkovski said. "You have to line up and play the top talent."

That's where Marietta has struggled. The school finished 3-7 last season and 3-6 in the OAC, and Filkovski knows elevating the Pioneers to the top of the conference will be difficult.

"I want to be the coach that goes 7-3, 8-2 and challenges for the conference title," Filkovski said. "That's what we have to overcome. We have to get better players and coach them better and get them to believe they can play with those guys."