Suffolk Football Standout Dave Shanahan Takes the Helm at St. Joseph’s

St. Joseph’s University, New York – Long Island has found the person it wants to lead its new women’s flag football program, and the hire brings plenty of local football history with him. Dave Shanahan, a longtime Suffolk County coach and former standout player, has been named the program’s head coach.

Shanahan brings more than three decades of coaching experience to St. Joseph’s, highlighted by an incredible 30-year run as head football coach at John Glenn High School. During his tenure, he guided the Knights to two Long Island Championships and the 2010 Rutgers Trophy after an undefeated season. John Glenn followed that up by capturing another Long Island title in 2011.

His impact on the game extended well beyond the high school level. Shanahan coached five players who went on to play in the NFL, including Ifeanyi Momah of the Arizona Cardinals and Trevor Coston of the Chicago Bears.

Shanahan's own playing career began in Suffolk County, where he grew up in the Sachem community and played under legendary head coach Fred Fusaro. As a senior, he earned All-County honors and was part of Sachem's 1987 team that received the Rutgers Trophy as Suffolk County's top football program. That squad featured 12 players who went on to compete in NCAA football.

He continued his playing career at C.W. Post, where he excelled as a running back and set the school's single-season rushing record at the time with 1,166 yards in 1989. He earned First Team All-Conference honors and was later named Liberty Conference Player of the Year and ECAC Player of the Year.

Shanahan also coached at C.W. Post and Stony Brook University before beginning his John Glenn tenure. He earned his master's degree at Stony Brook and was named John Glenn's athletic director in 2016.

Now, after decades of shaping football players across Long Island, Shanahan takes on a new challenge, building a women's flag football program at St. Joseph's.