Carabins QB Jonathan Sénécal vies for 2nd Vanier Cup, with potential CFL stardom around the corner

In 2015, when Gabriel Cousineau was in his senior year as quarterback for the Montreal Carabins, he also worked full-time at a secondary school in the city called Collège Laval.

On lunch breaks, Cousineau would study tape of the Carabins' next opponent, and sidled up next to him would be star student Jonathan Sénécal.

At other times, Sénécal followed Cousineau as he went to throw around with his receivers on the university team.

"And the receivers were asking me like, is he coming in next year at the university? I'm like, 'No, no, no, he's just going to [his senior year at secondary school]'. So he's had an impressive arm such a long time," Cousineau recalled. 

"And he's been labelled the messiah since he's been a kid. And just seeing that he actually answered the call last year by winning all the trophies possible, well, finally, we've gotten to the point we've been looking forward to for such a long time."

Nine years later, Sénécal and Cousineau continue to study the game together — the former as the current star QB for the Carabins, and the latter as his offensive co-ordinator. In Sénécal's junior year last season, the duo lifted the Carabins to the Vanier Cup title, the school's first since Cousineau was under centre in 2014.

In addition to the championship, Sénécal was also awarded Vanier Cup MVP, took home the Hec Crighton Trophy as Canadian university football's most outstanding player and was named U Sports' male athlete of the year.

On Saturday, Sénécal and the Carabins will face its rival the Laval Rouge et Or in the RSEQ championship, with the winner headed to the national semifinal Mitchell Bowl.

Montreal and Laval are incredibly evenly matched with identical 7-1 records and having split a pair of regular-season games, each decided by a single point.

But Sénécal and Montreal are chasing history.

"At the end of the day, we won last year and then it would be something that would put us, I would say immortal, because there's not a lot of teams that were able to win a Vanier Cup twice," he said.

Each game from now on could be Sénécal's last with Montreal as the dual-threat QB appears headed for the CFL next season, where he hopes to make his mark as the rare Canadian pivot in the league.

Yet even with potential national stardom looming, the 25-year-old Sénécal appears fully focused on the present.

"For me, I think just to make it to the CFL and make it to a team would be something I would be proud of. And if I'm able to make a career longer than one year, and if I am able to learn from another quarterback and someday be able to play, that would be awesome," he said.

"But football brought me so much from when I was younger to right now that even if football doesn't work, it brought me so much that I would be grateful for it."

Sénécal, from Mirabel, Que., said he was seven years old when he first picked up the ball for a game of touch football. He was immediately drawn to the quarterback position despite apprehension about the leadership role on the field.

"I was a pretty shy guy when I was younger. So for me, talking in front of people was not something that I was used to. It was pretty hard," he recalled.

To this day, Cousineau said vocal leadership remains the biggest potential area of improvement for his protégé as he enters the pro ranks.

The coach said Sénécal may need a couple years of seasoning as a backup before stepping into a starting role in the CFL.

"He definitely has the skill. Now let's see if he has the mental ability to get there," Cousineau said. "He's never been like a rah-rah type of player like screaming and motivating. He really keeps it cool. He doesn't say much, but whenever he speaks up, players definitely listen."

Sénécal's demeanour is two sides of the same coin as he prides himself on staying composed no matter the situation.

But at a Montreal Alouettes training camp over the off-season, Sénécal saw firsthand the effects of vocal leadership from QB Cody Fajardo.

"I think there was one practice that the offence was not doing so good. And then he was talking to them. And then on the second period of the practice, they were doing so much better because he was able to encourage them and tell them we need to wake up," Sénécal said.

The Alouettes just completed a 12-5-1 season and will host the Toronto Argonauts in Saturday's division final.

It's a spot in which Sénécal could find himself sooner than later — especially considering his raw ability. Over the past two seasons, Sénécal has amassed more than 4,500 passing yards with 30 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.

Models game after Lions' Rourke

Yet Cousineau said it's Sénécal's feet that set him apart.

"Almost having two running backs on the field definitely helps, and just the quality of his arm. He could attack all the zones on the field so forces the defences to pick their poison. Either they defend the deep zone or they gotta defend the run and obviously you can't be great at both," he said.

Cousineau said it's "special" drawing up plays for a quarterback like Sénécal because his options are endless. Even his star player likes to come to him with suggestions from plays he comes across on Twitter.

In those meetings, Sénécal tries to model some of his game after Nathan Rourke, the most successful Canadian quarterback since Russ Jackson in the 1960s. 

Rourke played NCAA, not U Sports, but shone for the B.C. Lions in 2022 before trying his hand in the NFL and returning to the CFL midway through the current campaign.

In Edmonton, Waterloo product Tre Ford, another Canadian, has generally performed well for the Elks when given the opportunity, but he has yet to break through.

The way his career's headed, Sénécal could be next up.