Jake Flaherty joined the Maryville College football staff as an assistant coach in August 2022. He oversees the wide receivers and also serves as special teams coordinator.
In 2022, Flaherty oversaw a wide receiving corps that led the USA South in receiving TDs with 25. Two Scots earned All-USA South recognition, while one was named Division III All-Region. Six different receivers under Flaherty scored at least one TD, while 12 different wideouts recorded at least one reception.
On special teams, kicker Trey Hampton led the USA South in field goal percentage at 75 percent. Hampton and linebacker/punter Jacob Berven were each named USA South Special Teams Player of the Week.
Before coming to Maryville, Flaherty spent three seasons as an assistant coach on the NCAA Division I FCS level with Lafayette under then-head coach John Garrett. Flaherty in his three years coached Leopard receivers Nick Pearson, Quinn Revere and Julius Young to All-Patriot League Second Team honors.
Prior to Lafayette, Flaherty spent two seasons as the running backs coach at his alma mater, Bucknell.
Flaherty served as the assistant recruiting coordinator at Bucknell during his time on Joe Susan’s staff. In 2017, he saw running backs Chad Freshnock and Joey DeFloria each rush for more than 500 yards, and in 2018 freshman Jared Cooper racked up 800-plus all-purpose yards under Flaherty’s tutelage.
Graduate Assistant Coach at Miami
Prior to coaching at Bucknell, Flaherty spent two seasons at Miami as a graduate assistant coaching wide receivers and tight ends. He worked closely with wideout Ahmmon Richards, a freshman All-American who broke the Hurricanes first-year record for receiving yards, and Stacy Coley, who finished second in school history in career receptions. Flaherty earned his master’s degree at Miami in 2016.
The 2014 football season took Flaherty to Bozeman, Montana, as an offensive quality control analyst at Montana State under then offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey.
Flaherty’s coaching career began the summer before his senior year at Bucknell, when he worked as a training camp coaching intern with the Dallas Cowboys. He joined Bucknell’s football program as a student-athlete in 2010 and persevered through four major knee injuries throughout his career. He led the team his junior season with 23 receptions for 228 yards and a touchdown through six games before suffering his fourth ACL injury.
Unable to play his senior season due to injury, the Oceanport, New Jersey, native served as a student assistant coach. Flaherty graduated in 2014 with bachelor’s degrees in History and Religion.
He comes from a prominent football family. His father, Harry, is in the Holy Cross athletics hall of fame and went on to play linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Bandits (USFL). His brother, Harry Jr., played tight end at Princeton from 2007-10, and with the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys from 2011-12.
Flaherty is the nephew of Jason Garrett, the former NFL quarterback who coached the Cowboys for nine seasons. Flaherty’s grandfather, Jim Garrett, was a longtime NFL scout and assistant coach.
Maryville College Ties
No stranger to Maryville College, Flaherty is married to Caroline Piper, whose father, Austin Coleman “Cole” Piper ’68, was a major benefactor, alumnus and eventual chair of the Board of Directors before his sudden passing in August 2021. A member of both the football and track and field teams during his MC days, Cole Piper was heralded with the groundbreaking of the Austin Coleman Piper Memorial Track, which was unveiled in the fall of 2022.
