Coaches Awards
Bill Rankin
1978 Region 4 Coach of the Year
1984 Michigan High School Football
Coaches Association Hall of Fame
Bill Rankin coached at Groves from 1973-1988. Over his 16 year coaching career, he won 59 games. He won the 3 Metro Suburban League championship. (1977, 1978, 1980.) His best years at Groves were the 1978 season when Groves went 9-0 during the regular season, including a overtime victory agains Seaholm to sent them to their first playoff game against Brother Rice. In 1977 and 1980, the Falcons went 6-3. After coaching at Groves, he became the Athletic Director from 1989-1997.
Mark Swartz
1999 Region 4 Assistant Coach of the Year
Mark Swartz came to Groves with Coach MacDougall in 1993 and coached through the 2002 season. He started at Groves as the head Freshman coach and worked his way to the Varsity Inside Linebackers coach in 1995. From 1996-2002, he served as the defensive coordinator. Coach Swartz brought in the 4-6 defense, which helped Groves to some of their most successful seasons. Including the 1999 season where they went 9-2. In 1999, the defense gave up 97 points including 3 shutouts. The '99 team would beat New Baltimore Anchor Bay in the first round of the playoffs 17-7 and then fall a week later to Brother Rice.
Greg Malcolm
1997 Region 4 Assistant Coach of the Year
Greg Malcolm came to Groves with Coach MacDougall in 1993. He coached at Groves from 1993-2007 and came back to coach at Groves in 2014 and is currently coaching the runningbacks. During the 1997 season Coach Malcolm coached the tight ends and defensive ends including first team all state defensive end Brian Schaffer. The 1997 team would win the OAA Division III championship and qualify for the Class A playoffs. They would beat Detroit Central 10-0 in the first round and lose a week later to Seaholm in the district final.
Brendan Flaherty
2004 Region 4 Coach of the Year
2015 Region 4 Coach of the Year
2016 Region 4 Coach of the Year
2018 Region 4 Coach of the Year
Coach Flaherty was part of the Coach MacDougall's staff in 1993 and then came back again in 1998 serving as defensive coordinator until becoming head coach in 2001.
In 2004, Flaherty led the Falcons to a 6-3 record in the tough OAA Division 1. The Falcons started their playoff run on the road by beating a 9-0 Southfield team 14-0. The following week the Falcons headed over to play Southfield Lathrup for the 5th time in four years and 2nd year in a row in the playoffs. The Falcons held on to win the 2004 District Championship by a score of 23-20. The following week, Groves came up short against Orchard Lake St. Mary's in the Regional Final.
In 2015, Coach Flaherty led the Falcons to a 9-0 regular season record, an OAA Blue League Championship and a 10-1 season. This was the 2nd time in school history that the Falcons went 9-0 and the first time the school has won more than 9 games in a season. Groves had a tough draw going into the playoffs. In the first round they beat OAA White Champion Farmington Hills Harrison in an upset 10-0. In the District Championship, the Falcons headed to Walled Lake Western and lost 34-21 in the District Final.
In 2016, Coach Flaherty led an experienced group to an
11-2 record (most wins in a season), OAA White Championship, District Championship, Regional Championship (first time in school history), and a Semi-final appearance. The 2016 season was full of excitement. The Falcons were picked by people in Oakland County to win 3 games on the season. The Falcons upset Oak Park 13-12 in week 2, Southfield 13-7 in week 3, and Rochester Adams 15-8 in week 7 (First win vs Adams since 1984). During the playoff run, the Falcons beat Berkley in the 1st round 56-15. In the second round, the Falcons beat Brother Rice 24-0 to secure their first win vs Rice since 1963 and the school's second District Championship. In the Regional Final, the Falcons beat Grosse Pointe South 44-10 to win the school's first Regional championship. In the Semi-final, the Falcons would end up losing to Detroit Martin Luther King 14-7.
In 2018, Coach Flaherty Led the Falcons to the Semifinals for the second time in four years. Coming off a dissapointing triple overtime loss to Brother Rice in 2017, the Falcons were returning a lot of starters and had great leadership from the Seniors.
Jim MacDougall
1997 Region 4 Coach of the Year
1989 Michigan High School Football
Coaches Hall of Fame
Jim MacDougall came to Groves in 1993 and revived a football program that had been down for several years. MacDougall coached at Groves from 1993-2000. He compiled a 48-29 record and won 4 league championships (1994, 1997, 1998, 2000) during his 8 years. His best team came in 1997 when the Falcons won the OAA Division III title and qualified for the class A playoffs with a 7-2 record. The 1997 team beat Detroit Central 10-0 in the first round of the playoffs giving the Falcons their first playoff win in school history. The Falcons would go on to lose to Seaholm in the district final a week later.
Jason Wilson
2017 Region 4 Assistant Coach of the Year
Brian Hafner
2021 Region 4 Assistant Coach of the Year
Mike Salter
Region 4 Assistant Coach of the Year