Sheehan Named Viking Head Coach

Welcome to Part II of the June post. Today we'll take a look at the move of Patrick Sheehan from Pioneer Offensive Coordinator to Head Football Coach of the Triton Regional High School Vikings. 

This quote may be the appropriate place to start.

"The game of life is a lot like football. You have to tackle your problems, block your fears, and score your points when you get the opportunity." -author Lewis Grizzard.

That pretty much describes the situation for Sheehan. Some coaches wait years before they land a head coaching position, but Sheehan, at the tender age of 27 and with five years of coaching experience was presented with a golden opportunity to run his own program. But in spite of all that, it still wasn't an easy decision for the Lynnfield native and LHS graduate.

"The decision to even apply for the head job at Triton was difficult," Sheehan said. "This is a testament to how strongly I feel about the staff at Lynnfield and the situation I was leaving. I enjoyed every minute I spent at Lynnfield and learned so much from the entire staff. Coach (Neal) Weidman has been a great friend and mentor during this process, offering advice, helping me see the 'big picture' and supporting any and every decision I have made.


"Leaving my alma mater after the season we had and seeing Lynnfield be put on the map is going to be difficult to do," he continued. "Neal's wife Jenn told me that it's a good thing that I had to make this decision. She told me it would be easy to leave some place that you weren't happy but to leave somewhere that you are happy means you truly believe in your decision."

Pat was a receiver, defensive back and long snapper for the Pioneers and was co-captain of the 1999 squad.


Pat started his coaching career at Lynnfield under former Pioneer head coach Bill Adams in 2005 coaching the wide receivers amd defensive backs as well as the freshman team.

"Neal was the offensive coordinator during that time and he and I became very close as we learned and implemented the spread offense in the 2006 season," Sheehan continued. "After the 06 season, I was asked by then Triton head coach Sean McElligot to come and coach the wide receivers, defensive backs and the special teams. I accepted due to the fact that I was teaching Algebra at Triton and thought it would be good to coach and teach in the same school."

Following the 2007 season, McElligott was not asked to return at Triton and Weidman, newly named to take over the Pioneer program with Adams' retirement offered Sheehan the opportunity to come back to Lynnfield as the offensive coordinator.

"That turned out to be a great decision, obviously," Sheehan said.

On a personal note, I have known Pat since he was six years old and a proud member of the Pirates, my first tee-ball team. In fact, I coached Patrick for most of his Little League baseball career. That probably explains his aptitude for and success in football.


The situation he is taking over at Triton is muddled at best and Pat will have his hand full.


Former Pioneer assistant coach Jim O'Leary took over the Viking football program from McElligot in 2008 after the Vikings went 1-10 in 2007. O'Leary seemed to have things headed in the right direction with a 5-6 mark in 2008 and a 7-4 season last year. In fact, Triton exploded out of the gate last year going 5-0 before the Pioneers handed them their first loss 21-19 on a last second field goal by Steve Ullian.
 
However, O'Leary submitted his resignation following last season citing personal reasons. He told the Newburyport News that "there are a lot of obstacles over there that just don't seem like  they will work themselves out. It's a case of I just didn't feel like the total atmosphere of the school was where I wanted it to be. I tried to talk myself into going back, but I talked to the principal and said it was best for me to step away."

Sheehan is not fazed by the perceived problems at Triton.


"I have been at Triton for five year now," Sheehan said. "Every school and every athletic department has its issues and Triton's has taken its hits over the past four or five years. Coaches resigning, firings, perceived lack of administrative support are just a few of the issues. I can't speak for coach O'Leary and he has his own reasons for leaving. I have enjoyed teaching at Triton and work with some great people. I am excited to start working with all of the administration, players, boosters and other coaches in the building in order to make Triton as great as we can make it."


Pat will be taking over a program that enjoyed success last year and he looks forward to continuing that trend.


"I think that with the first head coaching job for anybody, there is an expected amount of pressure," he said. "The fact that Triton went 7-4 last year does increase expectations from the school and community. However, their expectations will not exceed our expectations as a team. Also, despite a good record, there is unfinished business as far as having the ability to compete with the teams in our league (Masco, North Andover, Wilmington and Pentucket.)


"Triton has one win against those teams in the past two years. I hope to put together a staff that is half as good as what we had at Lynnfield the past two years. Neal Weidman, Greg Haberland, John O'Brien, Mike Geary, Fern Lavoie and Gino Fodera. I believe this is as devoted and knowledgeable staff as you will find in the CAL and probably Massachusetts. I am going to miss the camraderie we had as a staff."


"Triton has a short list of head coaches in their history," Pat went on."I believe I will be the 6th or 7th  head coach in their history. I will be joining the CAL Large with coaches like Jim Pugh, John Rafferty, Ed Gaudiano and Steve Hayden. These guys have been at their respective schools since I was a freshman in high school."


Actually, those coaches go back much further than that. Pugh took over the Masco program when Patrick was entering the second grade in 1989 and Gaudiano got the head coaching job at Newburyport when Pat began first grade in 1988. Hayden was conducting his first Pentucket preseason camp in August of 1982 just around the time Jim and Donna Sheehan were bringing baby Patrick home from the hospital. So yes they have been around for a while.


"I hope to bring some consistency to a program that will see its third coach in four years," Pat summed up. "I believe that the football program is the face of athletics and hope that during my tenure, Triton can look proudly at the face of their athletics program."


Sheehan's leaving obviously leaves a hole in the Pioneer coaching staff.


"We're going to miss him," Weidman said. "But it's a great opportunity and you never know when they'll come along so you have to take advantage of them. This breaks up the great chemistry we had as a coaching staff but we'll all have to work together to pick up the slack. This will be a challenge for everyone else on the staff."


Weidman is not sure he will be able to replace Sheehan this year.


"It's a little late," he said. "If we find someone that fits then fine. If not, we have enough experience on the staff to readjust."

Please join me in wishing Pat all the luck in the world in his new endeavor at Triton.


See you on July 9th for my next post.