USM's legendary baseball coach, Ed Flaherty, to retire at end of season
By Steve Craig, Portland Press Herald
There were times early in Ed Flaherty's career as a college baseball coach when he could have left his home state of Maine and moved to a Division I program.
"I'm glad I didn't," he said.
Flaherty, 70, announced Friday that he will be leaving the coaching ranks after he finishes his 39th season in what has become an illustrious career at the University of Southern Maine. The Portland native, a proud graduate of Deering High and the University of Maine, led USM to NCAA Division III national titles in 1991 and 1997, eight College World Series appearances, and over 1,100 wins.
"I am proud. Yeah," Flaherty said. "I look back and I'm just proud of the kids. We've had 40 All-Americans and countless professionals at a Division III program that ended up top 20 in the country at least 20 times."
St. Joseph's College baseball coach Will Sanborn has competed against Flaherty for the last 32 seasons.
"Ed is probably one of a handful of people who you can say is one of Maine's greatest coaches in any sport," Sanborn said.
For Thornton Academy baseball coach Jason Lariviere, a two-time All-American at USM (1994, 1995), Flaherty's status is more than the stuff of local legend.
"I think it goes outside of Maine. He's probably one of the greatest Division III coaches that's ever been around. Certainly one of the best in Maine, if not the best."
USM announced it will begin a national search for Flaherty's replacement.
Flaherty said he made the decision to retire when USM was returning from its annual southern trip to start the season. He initially intended to wait until the end of the season to make the announcement.
"But then I started talking to our (human resources) people and they were not going to get another coach hired until September, and that whole recruiting season is going to be gone," Flaherty said. "Now they can get the hiring process started and get somebody in by the middle of the summer, the beginning of the summer."
Insuring the program remains strong is important to Flaherty. USM did not have a losing season in Flaherty's first 37 years (save for a 0-1 mark in COVID-shortened 2020) but was 18-21 last season and is currently 7-15. READ MORE
