Eli Manning on Rutgers football offensive line coach Pat Flaherty’s impact: ‘He’s going to get his players very well prepared’
Eli Manning understands full well the impact that Pat Flaherty can have on a quarterback as well as an offense. A former New York Giants quarterback, Manning can appreciate the impact of Flaherty, now the offensive line coach with Rutgers football.
Flaherty was the offensive line coach for both of Manning’s Super Bowl wins and now he brings two decades of NFL experience to the Scarlet Knights.
Four times named to the Pro Bowl and twice selected as MVP of the Super Bowl, Manning was joined last Friday by former Giants teammates Shaun O’Hara and Justin Tuck at an event in Waldwick, N.J. The Children’s Place sponsored a community outreach to over 300 children and their families at the Superdome Sports facility.
The family-focused event afforded children the chance to learn about football from the Giants legends, complete custom t-shirts and participate in an Easter egg hunt.
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Manning was asked about the impact of Flaherty’s hire and his own experience with the former Giants offensive line coach.
“We had a lot, a lot of meetings, a lot of discussions with coach Flaherty. You know, the quarterback and offensive line coach always communicate early, early, early in the week about things like how we’re going to pick up some blitzes…how we’re going to handle certain players,” Manning told Rutgers Wire last Friday.
“And so he’s a guy that obviously cared a lot about protecting the quarterback – I appreciated that. But also getting the run game going what runs versus certain looks, what runs do we like against this blitz, you know, I don’t care if we run it, throw it. It’s about getting successful plays moving the ball getting first downs and so Pat was open.
“If we had ideas, he would listen to them to change things up, to get better protection. He was all for it. And so just a guy like Shaun (O’Hara) said, he’s a hard worker, he’s always grinding and he’s going get his players very well prepared.”
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Manning’s comments reference Shaun O’Hara, who spoke about the impact of Flaherty on the Rutgers football program in earlier comments.
“I know this, you know Greg Schiano and Pat Flaherty do go back a long way. Actually, I think Greg was a GA (graduate assistant) at Rutgers when Pat was a tight ends coach. So they’ve known each other for a long time. Nobody’s gonna outwork that Flaherty. that’s for darn sure. He’s one of those guys that just doesn’t know any other way but to prepare and to make sure his players are prepared,” O’Hara said in his interview with Rutgers Wire.
“You know, he led us to countless victories. He’s got the Super Bowl rings to prove it. So I know he comes to the ‘Banks’ with a lot of merit. But I think he’s gonna really make those kids better on and off the field.”
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O’Hara is a former Rutgers football standout who played for Flaherty while with the Giants. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his final three seasons in the NFL, all of which were played under Flaherty.
Eli Manning and Shaun O’Hara attend The Children’s Place Afternoon of Football Fun at Superdome Sports, Warwick, New Jersey.
