WARREN — Dan Rohn got a good feeling when he first arrived at De La Salle High School.

“From the moment I walked in the school — seeing the building, seeing the facilities — I felt there were a lot of similarities between De La Salle and (Grand Rapids) West Catholic,” he said.

De La Salle football fans hope those similarities extend to the gridiron. Rohn, who led West Catholic to Division 5 state football championships in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015, has been hired to be the Pilots’ next varsity head coach.

Rohn, who had a 99-19 record in nine seasons helming the Falcons, following a 51-34 mark in another nine seasons at Fremont High School, most recently served as an assistant coach at Ferris State University in 2016-17 under friend and mentor Tony Annese.

The Bulldogs have become NCAA Division 2 powerhouses, but despite that, Rohn said the college game wasn’t the ideal situation for him.

“I took some time off of coaching (the past two seasons), but wanted to get back in at a place that was the right fit for me and my family,” Rohn said. “I missed being at a Catholic school. Just what De La Salle stands for fits well with the kind of person that I am. I’ve never been afraid to work hard and I just feel that it’s the right place, the right time, the right fit. They say that God has a plan for everyone and this seems like this is His plan for me.”

De La Salle plans to formally introduce Rohn at a ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday in the school’s Bill Fox Gymnasium.

“It’s a pleasure to be able to welcome Dan Rohn to our Lasallian community,” President John M. Knight said in a statement. “Dan’s background of success in forming young people of faith, compassion and conviction is a great fit for De La Salle Collegiate.”

Rohn says his first task is “getting in front of the kids and building relationships with them. I want to meet individually with every single player. I want to let the kids know who I am a little bit, and let them know what the expectations and the goals of the program are.”

Like West Catholic, the Pilots have also enjoyed gridiron success as of late, winning Division 2 state championships in 2017 and 2018.

“It’s always great to inherit a program that has had that sort of success,” Rohn said. “I think we’re going to bring a lot of the same philosophies. I don’t think you make a lot of changes, but you look at things, analyze them and maybe tweak here and there.”

The 48-year-old Rohn, a native of Muskegon who has spent nearly all his life in western Michigan, also needs to build a stable of assistant coaches.

“I’m going to meet with a lot of the coaches and staff,” he said. “I want to surround the program with coaches and kids that are loyal to the mission of the program and the school. That’s part of the process — it’s no different than developing a calendar — you’ve got to make it work around the community.”

Rohn succeeds former coach Mike Giannone, who led the Pilots to a pair of state championships but was dismissed in December.

“It didn’t take long for the opening to happen before I started getting some texts,” Rohn said. “A lot of people reached out to me when this came open, even some people in the Catholic League. I had to spend some time thinking about it, talking it over with my family, and the more I did that, the more it seemed like a good fit.”

Rohn has two college-age sons, Jackson (21) and Dave (20), who both played for him at West Catholic.

“I had the opportunity to coach both of them in a state championship game — they were both on the field at the same time — not many coaches can say that; they’re both really excited about this,” he said. “With both my boys being in college, it was the opportunity to move. It was the right time.”

Rohn will have yet-to-be-determined duties above and beyond coaching, he said, and those will likely be set out at the end of the current school year. For now, he plans to spend “four or five days a week” at the school putting his stamp on the program.

“I’ve always been a process guy,” he said. “Eventually our goal is to compete for a state championship and win the Catholic League, which a lot of people say is the toughest league in the state.”

De La Salle was the 2019 pre-season favorite to win the Catholic League title, but finished 5-4, abruptly ending their season amidst allegations of hazing (forfeiting an opening-round playoff game to Birmingham Groves).

Five students have since been charged with misdemeanor assault and battery in connection with the incidents.