Jim Harbaugh prepared Shea Patterson for pro football during the pair’s time together at the University of Michigan.
“From a professional standpoint, learning a lot about how to be a pro and approach on a day-to-day basis was huge,” Patterson said.
“He had an NFL staff both years that I was there, so I got to see the ins and outs of preparation and what it takes to win. I don’t know if I was ready for it mentally but my senior year, that’s when I really started to get what it takes to win each and every single week.”
Patterson was the consensus No. 1 QB recruit in the United States coming out of high school and began his NCAA career at the University of Mississippi. The six-foot-two, 202-pound QB started 10 games over two seasons (2016-2017) with a 4-6 win-loss record while completing 60.7 percent of his passes for 3,139 yards with 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
“I remember going back and forth on whether to transfer, I had to look at what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to have an opportunity to play for a championship,” Patterson said.
“For him to fly into Ole Miss on a jet, come and meet me at my house in Mississippi, I was like: ‘Wow.’ Growing up Jim was like a celebrity and you didn’t look at him like a coach, but then you’re around him and you see him… it meant the world. It took one conversation and I was sold.”
Patterson played two seasons at Michigan and started 26 games under Harbaugh. He completed 60.1 percent of his passes for 5,661 yards with 45 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while rushing for seven touchdowns. The Wolverines went 10-3 in 2018 and 9-4 in 2019, losing the Peach Bowl and Citrus Bowl to the University of Florida and the University of Alabama respectively.
“He means everything. Love that guy. He’s a proven winner,” Patterson said. “His energy and his charisma I got to be around every single day, it was contagious throughout the whole university and whole organization — eventually, it led to a national championship a few years later.”
The now-Riders QB recalls partially tearing his oblique during the first play of the 2019 NCAA season. Patterson couldn’t throw or play the way he wanted, Harbaugh took notice and delivered a direct message.
“I eventually got healthy around Week 5, Week 6, but you could tell it was wearing on me mentally. After one meeting, I remember him sitting in the quarterback room with the quarterback coach Ben McDaniels and all the guys, he didn’t really sit in a whole lot,” Patterson said.
“That morning he sat in and right before the meeting was over and everybody left, he caught me before I went out the door. He said: ‘Don’t ever forget who you are, you’re Shea Patterson.’ My confidence wasn’t shaken but for him to say that was huge. It led to the last six weeks of the season me playing my best ball.”
Patterson had a two-and-a-half-month stint with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020. He signed with the B.C. Lions in June 2021 and spent time with the Montreal Alouettes the same season followed by a year in the United States Football League. Then joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders during free agency in February 2023.
The 27-year-old keeps in regular contact with Harbaugh, though he hasn’t talked to the 60-year-old Los Angeles Chargers bench boss since starting his first CFL game against the Toronto Argonauts in July.
“I talked to him a little bit a few months ago,” Patterson said. “He’s so busy, head coach, and got a lot going on but I talk to him every other couple months.”
