John P. "Jack" Flynn was born and raised in Danvers, MA, and didn't come to Maine until he entered Bates College in the fall of 1956.

But it is in the Pine Tree State that he created his legacy. Flynn, an outstanding basketball and football player in high school, became one of Maine's all-time greatest high school football coaches.

He coached at both South Portland and Scarborough, leading the Red Storm to the only state championship in his storied career in 2002.

When he finally retired following that championship, Flynn remarked that "people are destined to do certain things, and I love to coach."

His teams were always fundamentally sound and played with style and grace. Not surprising, considering the man who was coaching them.

Playing at Holten High in Danvers, he was selected as an All-Scholastic player by the Boston Post and the Boston Traveler in both 1954 and 1955. He was also an outstanding basketball player.

He went to Bates where he started four seasons and was selected to the ECAC All-East team and All-New England second team by the Associated Press.

He took over as head coach at South Portland in 1966 and stayed there until 1984. His teams there went 112-72-3 with eight divisional titles.

He returned to coaching in 1994 as an assistant at Bowdoin College, but went back to high school in 1999, taking over the fledgling Scarborough team.

In 2002, the Red Storm rallied in the final quarter to beat Belfast 14-12, in the Class B championship game, winning on a last-play goal-line stand, giving Flynn his only state title.

He seemed stunned afterward, and gave complete credit to his players. They, in turn, said he inspired them. "We owed it to him," said star running back Nial DeMena.

He retired two weeks later, his record at Scarborough (34-7) giving him a combined record of 146-79-3.

He was named Coach of the Year three times: 1977, 1981, and 2002.

Beyond his coaching, Flynn also served as athletic director at South Portland for seven years.

Among the great former football players that Jack has coached, is fellow inductee Bob Hews and former inductee Ed McAleney.