Ave Maria

Joe Patterson
Head Football Coach

Phone: (239) 304-7871
Email: Joseph.Patterson@avemaria.edu

Joe Patterson is entering his 22nd season as a football coach and his third as the head coach at Ave Maria. Prior to AMU, he served for 12 years as the head coach at St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. During his 12-year stint with the Cadets, his teams made the playoffs 10 times. Also during those 12 years, Coach Patterson's teams spent at least a portion of 11 seasons in The Washington Post's Top Twenty Poll. The Cadets recorded several wins against nationally ranked opponents, including a 35-2 win against the IMG Academy.

Coach Patterson and his staff posted a great record of developing talent. During his 12 years as the varsity head coach, 84 of his players went on to play Division I-A or I-AA football. He also coached eight All-Americans, including five Under Armour All-Americans.

Coach Patterson's track record on academics was stellar as his football program posted a 3.00 GPA or higher in nine out of the 12 seasons. Coach Patterson, who graduated Summa Cum Laude from Villanova University, taught in the Honors Program at St. John's. He was also the recipient of three different teacher-of-the-year awards at the school.

Coach Patterson had taken over the St. John's program in 2004 at age 28. Prior to taking over the St. John's program, Coach Patterson had spent two seasons on the varsity staff at Georgetown Prep in Maryland, during which time the Little Hoyas amassed a 17-1 record and secured a No. 1 ranking in The Washington Post poll.

Coach Patterson and his wife, Jana, are the parents of Anne, Tommy, Patrick, Edward, Bernadette, and Maximilian.
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Tom Brattan
Offensive Line

Email: Tom.Brattan@avemaria.edu

Tom Brattan is entering his third season at Ave Maria University. Most recently, Coach Brattan served as the offensive line coach for the University of Illinois in 2014 and 2015. Prior to that, he served 13 seasons as the offensive line coach for the University of Maryland. His time at Maryland was marked with great success as several of his players went on to play in the NFL (for example, in 2012, six of his former linemen were on NFL rosters).

Prior to coming to Maryland, Coach Brattan served as the offensive line coach in charge of centers and guards at Stanford University (1999 and 2000). His lines have been routinely praised for their ability to pass protect, which was on display in 1999 when Stanford quarterbacks were only sacked 15 times despite attempting 385 passes.

Before his stint at Stanford, Coach Brattan helped preside over Northwestern's rise to national prominence. He accepted the position as offensive line coach in 1992. In 1995, the Wildcats won the Big Ten Championship for the first time in 47 years. They finished the season ranked No. 7 in the nation with a 10-2 mark. Prior to that season, Northwestern had had 23 consecutive years without a winning season. The Wildcats won the Big Ten Championship again in 1996.

Coach Brattan took his first full-time collegiate job as the offensive backfield coach at William and Mary in 1983. In 1984, he was promoted to offensive coordinator (and offensive line coach), serving in that capacity until 1991. During that span, William and Mary advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs three times.

Directly prior to coaching at William and Mary, Coach Brattan served as the head coach at Highland Springs High School in Virginia for four seasons, a place where he had served as the offensive line coach from 1973 to 1975. Coach Brattan also served as the head coach at Lloyd C. Bird High School in Virginia and McKean High School in Delaware. Coach Brattan got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Delaware, in 1972. Coach Brattan had played center for Delaware.

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Mike Hiestand
Defensive Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator

Email: Michael.Hiestand@avemaria.edu

Mike Hiestand is entering his third season as the Ave Maria defensive coordinator. Prior to AMU, he served as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame for two seasons, during which time he was an assistant defensive line coach and worked with quality control. Prior to his two seasons at South Bend, Coach Hiestand served as a graduate assistant at Florida International University. At FIU, he worked as an assistant defensive line coach and special teams assistant. Coach Hiestand began his coaching career at Miami University in Ohio in 2012 as a graduate assistant, during which time he served as an assistant linebackers coach and special teams assistant. Coach Hiestand's playing career took him to Illinois State University, where he played linebacker and earned his degree in history. Coach Hiestand's father, Harry, has coached offensive line for 30 years collegiately and professionally, and currently serves as the offensive line coach for the Chicago Bears.







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Mike Faragalli
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks

Email: Michael.Faragalli@avemaria.edu

Mike Faragalli is entering his first season as the Ave Maria offensive coordinator. Coach Faragalli’s extensive experience includes eight seasons as the offensive coordinator at Bowling Green University. He also spent eight seasons as the offensive coordinator at Lafayette University. His two seasons as offensive coordinator at the University of Richmond resulted in the Spiders’ winning the FCS National Championship. Coach Faragalli has also been the offensive coordinator at Norfolk State and Columbia University. Coach Faragalli will also serve as the quarterbacks coach at Ave Maria, a position he held during each of his offensive coordinator posts.
 
Coach Faragalli has coached all of the offensive positions, except offensive line. He served as the running backs coach at the University of Virginia, the wide receivers coach at the University of Wisconsin, and the WR/TE coach at both Rhode Island and William & Mary.
 
In addition to his collegiate experience, Coach Faragalli also coached in the Canadian Football League for seven years as an offensive coordinator and head coach.



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Mike Lawrence
Head Strength and Conditioning/Running Backs

Email: David.Lawrence@avemaria.edu

Mike Lawrence is entering his third season as the strength and conditioning coach for football. He is also the running backs coach. Prior to AMU, he served as the wide receivers coach at Tennessee State University. For the 2014 season, Coach Lawrence served as the special teams coordinator, wide receivers coach, and running backs coach at Bethany College in Kansas. During that season, two of his wide receivers were named first-team all-conference.

Prior to jumping to the college ranks, Coach Lawrence coached for two years at Wiregrass High School in Wesley Chapel, Florida. He served as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach in 2012 before being promoted to head coach in 2013. Coach Lawrence's previous two seasons were spent as the running backs coach at Dunedin High School in Dunedin, Florida.  Coach Lawrence also coached at Maryville High School in Maryville, Tennessee, for three seasons (two as the offensive coordinator) and at Junction City High School in Junction City, Kansas, for one season.

Coach Lawrence's playing career was marked with tremendous success as he secured the mark as the all-time leading rusher (2,265 yards) at Kansas State by the time he graduated with a social studies degree. He was also named All-Big 12. His single best game was 252-yard performance against Iowa State. Coach Lawrence went on to play arena football for seven seasons (River City Rage and Tennessee Thundercats) and in the German Football League for three seasons Rhein Main Razorbacks. During his arena career, he won two championships, one as a player and one as a player-coach. He was also named to the all-star team in six out of his seven seasons.

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Liam Corley
Linebackers

Email: Liam.Corley@avemaria.edu

Liam Corley is entering his second season on the Ave Maria staff. Prior to AMU, he served most recently as the head coach of Oasis High School in Cape Coral, Florida. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, and assistant strength and conditioning coach at Bullitt Central High School in Kentucky. He went to Bullitt after serving as the co-head coach and linebackers coach at Eminence High School, also in Kentucky. Coach Corley began his coaching career in 2012 at Seneca High School in Louisville, where he coached the defensive backs and receivers. In addition to coaching the linebackers at AMU, Coach Corley assists with the strength and conditioning program.

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Ted Elsasser
Kicking Consultant

Email: Theodore.Elsasser@avemaria.edu

Ted Elsasser is entering his 15^th season coaching kickers, and his third season at Ave Maria University. Elsasser recently completed his fifth season as the kicking and punting coach for St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C., where he was also lead instructor for the SJC Kick and Punt Camp. Several of his players earned first-team all-conference honors before going on to college careers. Coach Elsasser had previously coached special teams, including kicking and punting, at Pallotti High School in Maryland for seven seasons.
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