OUA Coach of the Year: 2001, 2007, 2008
OUA Male Coach of the Year (Any Sport): 2010
OQIFC Coach of the Year: 1990, 1998
Frank Tindall Trophy (U SPORTS Coach of the Year): 2008
Playing:
Coach Sheahan attended Brockville Collegiate in Brockville, Ont. He was a three year starter at quarterback winning one championship with the Red Rams. He played five years of university football with the Concordia Stingers of the OQIFC, migrating to tight end, and finally offensive tackle by the end of his playing days in 1979. He was named team captain twice, most outstanding linemen in 1977 and he had a CFL try-out with the Edmonton Eskimos before starting his coaching career.
Coaching:
Queen’s University (2000-2018): In his 18 seasons with the Gaels, Coach Sheahan has shown the same excellence as he has elsewhere. Taking over a team that had been 2-6 in 1999, the rebuilding season of 2000 left only a 1-7 record to show. But in 2001 the Gaels showed their most dramatic improvement in the modern era, finishing with a 5-3 record and making the playoffs for the first time since 1997, earning Coach Sheahan OUA Coach of the Year honours in 2001. For the 2002 campaign, he led Queen’s to a 7-1 regular season record, its best in a decade, and took the team to its first Yates Cup appearance since 1979.
After coming so close in 2002 and producing a number of regular season successes, Coach Sheahan’s team finally broke through in 2009 as he guided the Gaels to a thrilling Yates Cup Championship win over Western. After beating top-ranked Laval in the Mitchell Bowl, Pat made his second appearance in the Vanier Cup and the Gaels ensured it was a memorable one as they came from behind to top the Calgary Dinos and capture the fourth Vanier Cup title overall for Queen’s.
Sheahan has three times been named OUA Coach of the Year at Queen’s (2001, 2007 and 2008), and won the CIS Frank Tindall Coach of the Year honour in 2008 and the OUA Male Coach of the Year in 2010. Sheahan is currently the longest serving head football coach in the OUA and U SPORTS.
Concordia Stingers (1989-1999): Coach Sheahan was named the Head Coach of the Concordia Stingers in late 1988, after they missed the playoffs three years in a row. In his first season, the team had a 4-3 record. He won his first Dunsmore Cup (OQIFC championship) in 1993, beating the Bishop’s Gaiters 10-7, though Concordia was later defeated in the Churchill Bowl. In 1998 he again found himself leading a Dunsmore Cup championship team, beating the Laval Rouge et Or 17-12 in a two-day contest (November 14-15), suspended because of darkness. The Stingers went on to win the Atlantic Bowl 25-24 over the Acadia Axemen, and were narrowly defeated (24-17) in the Vanier Cup by the Saskatchewan Huskies. Sheahan was named OQIFC Coach of the Year in 1990 and 1998.
McGill Redmen (1984-1988): Coach Sheahan was hired in 1984 as McGill’s Assistant Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. In his fourth season with the Redmen (1987), McGill won its first Vanier Cup Championship, defeating the UBC Thunderbirds 47-11.
Montreal Junior Concordes (1982-1983): Coach Sheahan coached the now-defunct CJFL team. Along with colleagues Wally Buono (CFL BC Lions) and Chuck McMann (CIS BC Lions) the Junior ‘Cordes made it all the way to the Dominion final of 1982. The Jr. Concordes are now the St. Leonard Cougars of the CJFL.
High School and Bantam Level: Sheahan made his coaching debut with Loyola High School (Montreal) in 1978. He later coached Leo’s Boys Bantam Football Club of Pte St. Charles, a south-west suburb of Montreal in 1979.
Miscellaneous: Sheahan has been an assistant coach for the Canadian national U19 for three years. They captured two gold medals in 2005 and 2006. In 2015 Sheahan was inducted into the Brockville Sports Hall of Fame.
