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After leading the Gaels football program to innumerable successes, highlighted by a 2009 Vanier Cup win, head coach Pat Sheahan will turn over the reins to a new coach for the 2019 season.

“Pat Sheahan has been a tremendous ambassador for the university and a respected and celebrated coach who has led our team to remarkable achievements,” says Leslie Dal Cin, Executive Director, Queen’s Athletics & Recreation. “His contributions to our program are immeasurable and as a result he has cemented his place in Queen’s and U SPORTS history as one of the most accomplished Canadian university football coaches of all time.  We are incredibly grateful for his years of dedication to Gaels football. Pat has also been instrumental as a role model and counsellor to his student-athletes who have succeeded on the field as Gaels as well as off the field after they graduated.”

Sheahan led the Gaels for 19 seasons, and has been a U SPORTS head coach for 30 years. In addition to the Vanier Cup win, he guided the team to multiple playoff appearances and has received several coaching awards, including being named the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) coach of the year in 2001, 2007 and 2008, and earning the Frank Tindall Trophy as U SPORTS coach of the year in 2008.

“It has been an honour to lead this team, and hundreds of talented student-athletes, for the past 19 years,” says Sheahan. “I am incredibly proud of all we accomplished during my time at Queen’s, highlighted by our 2009 Vanier Cup win and the 2016 opening of the new Richardson Stadium. I have also had the privilege of working with dozens of dedicated coaches over the years, and know we could not have achieved the successes we did without each and every one of them.”

Sheahan will serve as a special advisor to the department until June 2019. The national search for his successor will commence immediately.

“We are grateful to Pat for staying on as a special advisor as we transition to new leadership; his wealth of knowledge and experience will be invaluable,” says Dal Cin. “We look forward to the search for our next head coach, and to writing the next chapter of our strong and storied Gaels football program.”

The department looks forward to recognizing and celebrating coach Sheahan’s career over the next six months. More details will be shared in the near future once confirmed.