Pat Flinn, a coach who has been part of championship soccer programs throughout his life, was named head men's soccer coach at Drake University on Jan. 5, 2022.
Flinn entered his first year at the helm of the Drake men's soccer program with a last-place selection in the 2022 preseason poll. The Bulldogs defied their expectations as Flinn led the team to a second-place finish in the final standings and the No. 2 seed in the MVC Tournament. His inaugural team saw eight athletes earn some sort of All-MVC honor. Goalkeeper Jonathan Burke and defender Declan Watters were both selected to the First Team while the former was named Goalkeeper of the Year and the latter earned Defensive Player of the Year. AJ Franklin also earned MVC Player of the Week and First Team All-MVC honors. Elsewhere, a trio of Bulldogs and a pair of Drake rookies were named to the All-Freshman Team. Flinn also led the Drake coaches to the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year award.
Since then, Flinn has led the Bulldogs to two more winning seasons, along with two more MVC Conference Tournament berths. In both 2024 and 2025, the Bulldogs finished second overall in the MVC. Last season, they did so with a record of 8-2-7, while in 2024, they posted a 9-5-3 record while going 5-1-2 in conference play.
Drake was well-represented in the 2025 All-Conference honors, which is a testament to the level of coach Pat Flinn is. Senior Eskil Gjerde won Midfielder of the Year, while also picking up a First-Team All-MVC honor. He wasn’t the only Bulldog to receive first-team honors, however, as junior Cole Schrage joined him as a defender. Drake also saw three players get Second-Team All-MVC honors, as sophomores Tomas Butkovic, Sam DeLong, and Preston Kipnusu made the list at their respective positions.
Flinn completed his third year as head coach at the University of Chicago in 2021 when he guided the Maroons to a 16-6-1 record and the season culminated in the program's fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III national semifinals. Through two seasons as head coach at UChicago (the Maroons did not compete in 2020 due to COVID-19), Flinn's teams recorded a 28-8-6 record, including an 11-3 mark in University Athletic Association (UAA) play, and twice qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
While leading the UChicago program, Flinn coached two All-Americans, nine all-region performers, two UAA defensive players of the year, and 13 all-conference players. His teams in 2019 and 2021 combined to register 23 shutouts and the 2019 Maroons were UAA champions and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to UChicago, Flinn was an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator for Loyola Chicago, spending the 2017 and 2018 seasons with the Ramblers. The 2018 Loyola team reached the Missouri Valley Conference championship match for the first time in school history. During his time at Loyola, he had three recruits earn MVC all-conference honors, produced the 2018 MVC goalkeeper of the year, and in both 2017 and 2018 the Ramblers produced their first-ever Major League Soccer Draft picks. The student-athletes Flinn recruited helped lead Loyola to the 2019 MVC Championship and NCAA Tournament.
Flinn spent 2014-16 as the assistant coach at UChicago where he helped guide the Maroons to a 41-12-7 record. In the three seasons prior to Flinn's arrival, UChicago compiled a 26-17-9 record. From 2014-16, UChicago won two UAA titles and qualified for the NCAA tournament all three years, twice advancing to the second round and once to the round of 16. Flinn was part of the UAA Coaching Staffs of the Year in 2014 and 2016, as well as the 2016 National Soccer Coaches Association of America Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
He also served as an FC United Soccer Club head coach for the 1999 Boys Team in Illinois from 2014-2018. The club was crowned Illinois State Cup Champions in 2017 and 2018, won the 2018 U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Championship and finished fourth at the 2018 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship.
A native of Roswell, Ga., Flinn holds a United States Soccer Federation B License. He previously served for four years as Technical Director at Vestavia Hills Soccer Club in Birmingham, Ala., where his teams won three state championships.
Prior to his collegiate coaching tenure, Flinn played for Duquesne University from 2004-2007. He was a part of two Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championships and was a captain his senior year. Flinn graduated from Duquesne with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Flinn and his wife, Lindsey, have two sons, Jack (5) and Aaron (3).
