Pat Flaherty life and biography

Pat Flaherty is an American football coach. He is currently the offensive line coach for the New York Giants of the National Football League.

Pat Flaherty, who has more than 30 years of coaching experience, is in his 11th season as an NFL coach and seventh as the Giants' offensive line coach.

The Giants have consistently had one of the NFL's best and most dependable offensive lines since Flaherty began coaching the unit. The same five linemen - center Shaun O'Hara, guards Chris Snee and Rich Seubert and tackles David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie - started 38 consecutive regular season games from 2007-09, then the longest active streak in the NFL. Last season, O'Hara, Snee and Diehl all played in the Pro Bowl, the first time the Giants had three players from the same position group play in the game since 1962. In was the second consecutive Pro Bowl for O'Hara and Snee, who were the first Giants offensive linemen to be two-time Pro Bowlers since Ron Stone in 2001 and 2001.

In 2008, Snee and O'Hara were selected to the NFC Pro Bowl team. Snee, who was a starter, was the first Giants guard to play in the Pro Bowl since Stone in 2001 and O'Hara the first Giants center to go to the game since Bart Oates in 1993. In addition, Diehl was selected as a third alternate.

With the line leading the way, the Giants rushed for NFL-leading and franchise record numbers of 2,518 yards and 5.0 yards per carry. It was the first time since 1993 that the Giants led the NFL in rushing.

In 2007, the Giants were fourth in the NFL in rushing yardage with 134.3 yards a game. The Giants were also fourth in the league with a 4.6-yards-per-carry average. In 2006, the Giants were seventh in the NFL with an average of 134.8 rushing yards a game and sixth with an average of 4.7 yards per carry. The Giants' 138.1-yard rushing average in 2005 placed them sixth in the league. In 2004, the Giants averaged 119.0 yards a game and 4.5 yards a carry, which were far superior to the 97.4 and 4.0 averages the Giants posted in 2003, the year before Tom Coughlin and Flaherty arrived.

The line also did an outstanding job protecting Giants quarterbacks, who dropped back to pass 548 times and absorbed only 28 sacks in 17 games (including the NFC Divisional Playoff Game).

The Giants had a 1,000-yard rusher in five of the first six seasons in which Flaherty coached the line. In 2008, they had two in Brandon Jacobs (1,089) and Derrick Ward (1,025), just the fourth set of running back teammates in NFL history with more than 1,000 rushing yards in the same season. In 2007, Jacobs rushed for 1,009 yards, despite missing five games and most of a sixth with injuries. Tiki Barber made the only three Pro Bowls of his career while rushing for 1,518, 1,860 and 1,662 yards in the three years he ran behind a Flaherty-coached line.

Prior to joining the Giants, Flaherty was the Chicago Bears' tight ends coach for three seasons. Under Flaherty, the group was instrumental in helping Anthony Thomas twice rush for more than 1,000 yards, including 1,024 yards in 2003. In addition, Chicago's tight ends played a bigger role in the team's passing attack under Flaherty. In 2003, Desmond Clark caught 44 passes, the third-highest total on the Bears.

In 2000, Flaherty coached the Washington Redskins' tight ends and helped Stephen Alexander earn an invitation to the Pro Bowl. Alexander was third on the Redskins that season with 47 catches.

Flaherty began his coaching career at his alma mater, DeLone Catholic High School in McSherrytown, Penn., from 1978-80.

Flaherty coached in the collegiate ranks from 1980-99. He began with a two-year stint coaching the offensive line at East Stroudsburg University, his alma mater. Flaherty joined the staff at Penn State in 1982, a season in which the Nittany Lions defeated Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to win the national championship. After two seasons at Penn State, Flaherty moved to Rutgers, where he coached the offensive line for eight years.

Flaherty spent the 1992 season coaching the defensive line at East Carolina. From 1993-98 he was on the staff at Wake Forest, where he coached the offensive line, tight ends and special teams. In 1999, he coached tight ends and special teams and was in charge of recruiting at the University of Iowa.

Flaherty was an All-America center at East Stroudsburg. He was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in October 2004. He and his wife, Lynne, have two children, Shawn and Colleen.

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