Tim Pendergast has yet another connection to Queen's Football: parent.

The quarterback of the 1992 Vanier Cup winners, who teaches and coaches football at Holy Cross in Kingston, a frequent feeder team to the Gaels, has reason to hearken to his early days wearing the Tricolour. He his spouse Andree's eldest son, Matt Pendergast, is a rookie defensive back at Queen's who's also begun studies in the demanding Commerce program.
"When I was at Queen's in my second year I had some of the guys think I was a rookie," says Tim Pendergast, whose youngest son, Tommy, is also a Gaels ball boy while middle child Jeremy is in Grade 12. "My brother [Jim Pendergast, a standout tight end on the 1983 Vanier Cup runner-up] played five years before me… none of us were quick starts. I know exactly what Matt's going through. It's exciting. They have a great team and it'll be fun for him.

"He's got a lot of work ahead, but it's a worthwhile goal – to sacrifice and have ideas about the work you have to do get there. The school's a great school. It's win-win situation from our perspective… more than anything, you go to school for an education."

During Pendergast's playing days, 1988-92, the Gaels reached the conference final every season before finally summiting in '92 with a thorough 31-0 Vanier win over Saint Mary's in the then-SkyDome. Those Gaels might not have had the highest potential of the teams of that era – which is the lesson Pendergast has applied while coaching younger players at Holy Cross and with the Limestone Grenadiers.

"[Coach] Doug Hargreaves was once giving a talk and was asked, what was the best team he ever coached? I think he said the 1992 team, but he said they weren't the most talented. They just got the most out of what they did.

"When you reflect on that season, it was just a special bunch of people," Pendergast says. "As the season grew, it was just ... special players, guys like [middle linebacker] Mike Boone who led by example. Everyone was on the same page, everyone liked each other. It was all about moving forward."

Pendergast, who teaches in the science department at Holy Cross, has helped mentor several special players with the Crusaders, who are regularly a strong entry in Kingston's high school league. Current Gaels stalwarts Luke Ball, Corey Flude, Aaron Gazendam, Josh Prinsen each wore green and silver. Edmonton Eskimos OL Matt O'Donnell and receivers coach Devan Sheahan, key cogs for Queen's 2009 championship team, also played at Holy Cross. As a young coach in the mid-'90s, Pendergast also coached Brent Johnson, who went on to star for Ohio State and the B.C. Lions.

Of course, in the long run, football is about much more than wins and losses.

"I think what people love about the game of football, especially at the university level, are the life lessons that you learn," Pendergast says. "It's the putting things in perspective and seeing things in the big picture that helps you in day-to-day life. To be able to compete at a high level and be able to work hard, to go in and play teams who are way better than you physically and have success. To be able to buy into a package. All those things, all those lessons, do not come in textbooks."

Pendergast's playing days predated some landscape-altering changes to the university game; the arrival of Laval has raised the bar for both coaching and the physical development of players. A team trying to unlock its full potential is a constant, though. He's eager to see the current No. 2 Gaels continue that quest after their 31-24 win over two-time Vanier finalist McMaster on Labour Day.

"As I watch the games now, I can't wait to see them just make it all click, because when they do, it'll be special. Monday's game was great, but certainly they're not all there. You see potential.

"We never really started fast in my time at Queen's," he adds. "It always took a couple of games to figure out what our strategy was going to be."

Neate Sager, Arts '00, writes for Yahoo! Canada Sports