Riptide Hire Former Charger
January 6, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
San Diego Riptide News Release
SAN DIEGO â The Riptide are proud to announce former Charger and four-time NFL Pro Bowl selection, Ed Flanagan, as the Assistant Head Coach for the 2005 season. He brings with him an extensive football background that dates back to the 1960's. His 12 years in the NFL coupled with nearly ten years of coaching experience adds veteran, old-school insight to the San Diego coaching staff. He will be primarily responsible for the line position.
"(Flangan) has plenty of football experience that can help the younger guys out," said Coach Ponder. "He knows how this game use to be played."
An accomplished coach teaches through his own experience and with 12 years in the pros, Flanagan has plenty to share with this much younger generation of players. Flanagan was selected in the fifth round of the 1965 draft by the Detroit Lions. After just four years with the Lions, he made his first Pro-Bowl appearance. Although he was never on a winning team, Flanagan's performance never dipped and he went on to three more Pro-Bowls before being traded to the San Diego Chargers in 1975.
"I spent 10 years playing outside in the cold," said Flanagan. "When I was traded, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. It was a great time for the Chargers and things were just starting to pick up. (Dan) Fouts was just starting to learn the game and I retired right before Coryell came in."
After two seasons with the Chargers, Flanagan retired to pursue a successful career in business. But as with most players, he could not stay away from the game for very long.
"My final year, I took my NFL retirement and tried my hand at business. I was pretty successful, but in the end, I decided it was time to get into coaching. It's a great job and it's even better when you win."
Flanagan held the assistant coaching position with the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League in 1983. Two years later, he helped lead the team to a 13-4-1 season and the Championship game. The USFL folded the following year and Flanagan decided it was time to explore other avenues. He tested the waters as a junior college coach, working as an offensive line coach for Arizona Western College and Chaffey College. In 1997, he made his arena football coaching debut with the New York CityHawks. He was the team's offensive line coach and special teams coordinator. His line allowed the team to rush for a total 279 yards, pass for 3410 yards, and sacked opposing quarterbacks 16 times. During the 1998 season, he made the jump to the Milwaukee Mustangs and finished with a 7-7 record behind a line that allowed the offense to pass for 3684 yards and 71 touchdowns.
"I'm a good teacher. When I see a guy make a mistake, I can tell him exactly what he did wrong and how to correct it. I received my teaching degree from Purdue. So everything went hand in hand."
Flanagan joins Steve Papin and Sean Ponder in the Riptide Football Operations Department. The team has already filled ten spots on its training camp roster, including three re-assignments, and is planning to host another open tryout on January 22.
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