Rutgers Offensive Line coach Pat Flaherty won't return in 2026
Rutgers Football’s offensive line coach Pat Flaherty will not return, Head Coach Greg Schiano said. Flaherty’s contract is expiring and will not be renewed. He has been the Scarlet Knights’ O-Line coach for the past three seasons and was a consultant the year before that, he has been a football coach for 47 seasons between both high school, college, and the NFL.
As you can tell, Flaherty is a longtime football coach and started out his career working at Delone High School as the head coach before spending the next 19 years at the college level at Penn State, Rutgers, East Carolina, Wake Forest and Iowa, before making the leap to the NFL.
Flaherty joined the Washington Redskins as an assistant coach in 2000 and would go to coach with the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Miami Dolphins. Out of all his NFL stints, his time with the Giants from 2004-15 was his best, as Flaherty was the franchise’s offensive line coach and won two Super Bowls with the team (XLII, XLVI).
After his time in the NFL, Flaherty returned to college for the 2019 and 2020 seasons as an analyst with Penn State, joined the New York Giants in an advisor role in 2021 and then back to Rutgers as a consultant in 2022. A year later, he was hired as the Scarlet Knights offensive line coach in 2023 and spent the next three seasons with the program.
Since taking over the Rutgers Football offensive line room in 2023, the Scarlet Knights unit has made significant strides. In 2023, Rutgers was the most improved Big Ten offense and they secured the program’s first winning season since 2014. That same season, Rutgers led the Big Ten and was ranked No. 11 nationally, just giving up 1.08 sacks per game. Three offensive lineman (Hollin Pierce, Bryan Felter, Gus Zilinskas) all earning All-Big Ten honors.
A year later, left tackle Hollin Pierce earned PFF’s All-American honorable mention from Phil Steele. Center Gus Zilinskas earned All-Big Ten honorable mention once again and guard Kwabena Asamoah also received the same honor.
This past season, the unit continued to make strides as Kwabena Asamoah earned All-Big Ten honorable mention for the second season in a row.
Overall, Flaherty’s offensive line units have made some significant strides, as he took the unit from the amongst the bottom of the Big Ten to an above average offensive line unit.
The 69-year old coaching veteran will now move on, and the expectation is that Greg Schiano and crew will begin a national search for a new offensive line coach immediately.
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