Recruiting Areas: Central New Jersey (Hunterdon/Somerset/Union/Middlesex/Mercer/Monmouth), New England, Tennessee (Nashville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Knoxville)
Jake Flaherty is in his third season on John Garrett's staff.
He is coming off a 2021 spring season when Lafayette posted a 2-1 record and saw Quinn Revere '21 lead the team with 19 catches for 214 yards (11.3 yards per catch and 71.3 yards per game) on his way to All-Patriot League Second-Team honors.
Flaherty was charged with overseeing a young, but talented wide receiver corps in 2019. Nick Pearson '20 continued to put up solid numbers for the Leopards, making 34 catches for 623 yards and three touchdowns on his way to a second straight All-Patriot League Second-Team selection. Under Flaherty's tutelage, Joe Gillette made some noise in his rookie season at wideout, with 21 catches for 314 yards before injury cut short his season. Gillette was the Patriot League Offensive Player of the week on Sept. 23. Fellow freshmen Julius Young, Jordan Hull and Chris Webb all made significant contributions in the rookie campaigns.
Prior to Lafayette he 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.
Prior to coaching at Bucknell, Flaherty spent two seasons at the University of Miami as a graduate assistant coaching wide receivers and tight ends. He worked closely with wide receiver Ahmmon Richards, a freshman All-American who broke the Miami freshman record for receiving yards, and Stacy Coley, who ranked 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. His junior season he led the team 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, N.J. 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). Jake’s brother, Harry Jr., played tight end at Princeton from 2007-10, and his cousin, Andrew Rodriguez, was a linebacker at Army who won the AAU’s James E. Sullivan Award, given to the nation’s top amateur athlete.
Flaherty is the nephew of Lafayette head coach John Garrett, whose sister, Janine, is Flaherty’s mother. His uncle, Jason Garrett, is a former NFL quarterback and coached the Cowboys for nine seasons. Flaherty’s grandfather, Jim Garrett, was a longtime NFL scout and assistant coach.
