Stony Brook Seawolves football

History

Stony Brook first fielded varsity football in the 1983 season when its athletic teams were known as the Patriots. The football team transitioned into Division I in 1999 after leaving the Eastern Football Conference. In 2002, the 8,300 seat Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium opened as the new home of Seawolves football. The program joined the Northeast Conference in 1999 and participated as an associate member until 2006. It transitioned to a fully funded FCS program from 2006 until 2008 providing the maximum scholarship allowance of 63. In 2008 Stony Brook joined the Big South Conference. The Seawolves all-time record is 142–141.

1984–1998: Early days

After a period of impressive growth at the University which saw a rise in enrollment to over 16,000 students, the athletic department started taking shape with the steady development of its collegiate programs. Football was one of them, and Stony Brook initiated competition against regional universities and fellow SUNY members schools. Stony Brook fielded varsity football for the first time in the 1983 season playing their first game against SUNY-Maritime on September 18, 1983 but it was in 1984 when the team started playing a predominantly Division III schedule, and stats where first recorded by the NCAA. By 1985, Stony Brook, for the first time did not schedule club teams as part of their season. By 1988, the football program joined it first ever conference with its inclusion into the Liberty Football, an affiliation which lasted until 1991. While in Liberty Football, it competed on a yearly basis against Hofstra, Pace, Brooklyn, Fordham and other programs across the New York metropolitan area. At the end of the 1991 season, Stony Brook announced its admission into the Freedom Football conference as it continued to develop into a stronger Division III program. While part of Freedom Football, Stony Brook had winning seasons every year. In 1995, Stony Brook departed from the Freedom Football and initiated a transition to Division I in all sports. In 1997 it joined the Eastern Football conference for a period of two years having back-to-back losing seasons. By 1999 the transition was completed and Stony Brook joined the Division I Northeast Conference as a non-scholarship program.

1999–2007: Joining the Northeast Conference and Division I

Stony Brook entered Division I football in 1999 participating in the Northeast Conference until 2006. Continued growth of the program was assured with the construction of the Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. The Seawolves had a hard time on the field struggling over the span of three seasons with sub .500 records. The 2002 season coincided with the opening season of the stadium and the Seawolves posted their best winning season under the NEC banner with an 8–2 overall record, an 5–2 record against the NEC with a total of over 27,000 fans attending their opening season. However, the Seawolves weren't able to replicate their inaugural year's success and fell on hard times the following two seasons winning only nine of twenty games. The 2005 season was the last season under Sam Kornhauser, rewarded with the program's first NEC co-championship after a 6–4, 5–2 NEC season.

The desire to offer scholarship football climaxed in 2005 and the decision was taken among administrators to transition the Seawolves to full funding status. The 2006 year would mark the beginning of a new era in Stony Brook football. Scholarships were offered in football for the first time, part of an ambitious plan to transition the program to full scholarship funding. Chuck Priore took over the reins of the program and with the support of the department awarded the equivalent of 27 scholarships to 38 player for the initial season. This same year efforts to market Stony Brook Seawolves football to a bigger audience intensified and for the first time the Seawolves were to be fully broadcast over the airwaves on the campus radio station, 90.1 WUSB FM, and through a parallel online stream at WUSB.FM. A Sunday night talk show with Chuck Priore was initiated on the radio followed by weekly letters "From the Coaches Corner" released in the athletic website. The season also witnessed a much tougher schedule than the previous years with Hofstra, #1 New Hampshire, and #9 Massachusetts, and Georgetown all scheduled to play. As a result, the four initial games of the season were lost but the Seawolves came back to win four straight in conference play before losing their title hopes to Central Connecticut to end the season 5–6, 5–2 in the Northeast.

The Seawolves departed from the Northeast Conference despite signing a contract extension through 2010, largely due to the NEC imposed limit of 30 scholarships and the desire to increment scholarship allowance to 63, the maximum allowed by the NCAA. The program participated in 2007 as an independent taking advantage of independence to increase scholarships offerings and to schedule higher-caliber unconventional teams like #20 Richmond, #6 Youngstown State, #14 Hofstra, #24 Elon, and Maine while also scheduling previous conference rivals Central Connecticut, Albany, Monmouth, and Bryant. The Seawolves also played against Patriot League members Bucknell and Georgetown. The 2007 season ended with 6–5 record and the announcement of Stony Brook joining the Big South Conference with full sixty-three scholarship funding.

2008–2010: Joining the Big South Conference

Stony Brook joined the Big South in 2008 after a year of independence. The 2008 season opened in winning fashion with a 42–26 victory against Colgate but the Seawolves struggled losing the next four out-of-conference match ups against Elon, Maine (a matchup named by ESPN listeners as The Battle for the Butter), Brown, and Hofstra. The Seawolves then dropped their first Big South match up against Liberty with a 33–0 result. The Seawolves went on to win four of their last five games to finish their inaugural season with a 5–6 record, 3–2 in the Big South.

The 2009 season showed a much improved team and stronger schedule with games against cross-island rival Hofstra, UMass and North Dakota in which they lost but went on to win five out of their six conference games and capped the season with 36–33 upset over the Liberty Flames to share the Conference title.

In the off season, cross island rival Hofstra announced the immediate folding of their football program. For Stony Brook that meant the addition of multiple transfers from Hofstra eligible to play immediately. As a result, the Seawolves came out stronger than ever in their 2010 campaign. Continuing to increase the strength-of-schedule, the Seawolves played their first ever game against a Division I FBS school (85 scholarship offerings) at South Florida, in which they managed to lead for the entire opening quarter but were kept scoreless for the remaining of the contest losing by a score of 59–14 in front of over 40,000 fans. As the last game of the season approached the Seawolves found themselves undefeated in conference play but fell 28–54 to the Liberty Flames at Lynchburg sharing the Big South title for a second year straight, this time in a three way tie with Coastal Carolina and Liberty. Due to the nature of the tie, the Seawolves lost their chance to earn the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs which went to Coastal Carolina after allowing less points-against in their conference season. Midway through the season, the program announced it was receiving its largest donation ever – a $4.3 million Strength & Conditioning facility from former Stony Brook athlete Glenn Dubin.

The 2011 season featured the addition of top recruit Fernando Diaz who transferred from the Division I FBS program at the University of Pittsburgh together with returning running-duo Miguel Maysonet and Brock Jackolski and renewed expectations. The program continued the efforts of increasing the strength of schedule adding games against Division I FBS Buffalo and UTEP and a record six games at home. In the preseason, The Seawolves were ranked among the top 15 programs at the Division I FCS level in the "Phil Steele's College Football Review" ahead of their conference rivals, Liberty, which were ranked in the 31st position.

2011–2012: National Prominence and Playoffs

The Seawolves began their 2011 campaign with a heartbreaking overtime loss at UTEP. Travelled to Buffalo for their second consecutive defeat and opened their home stretch with a one-point loss against Brown. However, the Seawolves turned things around and began what would be their longest winning streak in the history of the program. Stony Brook went on to beat Lafayette and every conference rival in the Big South scoring 40 or more points in every game and a record 76 points against Gardner-Webb. The regular season came to an end in big fashion as the Seawolves battled for a historic win for the program against their top rival Liberty in what was deemed the Big South Championship Game. Stony Brook came out on top beating Liberty 41–31 to earn the Big South automatic bid for the NCAA Division I Football Championship. The Seawolves had a record eight win straight and were the first team in the Big South with an undefeated record. They capped their season with a third consecutive conference championship and ended the season ranked in the Sports Network poll, a first for the program. The Seawolves were matched against Albany, SUNY rivals, for a NCAA first round match up at home in front of a record-setting 8,286 crowd that witnessed a comeback 31–28 victory after trailing by 18 points. The Seawolves advanced to the second round to face the top seeded Sam Houston State and led for most of the game falling in the end 27–34 to close the season 9–4 overall, 6–0 in the Big South.

The 2012 season featured the addition of transfer recruits Marcus Coker who previously played for FBS Big Ten Iowa rushing for more than 2,000 yards and 18 touchdown in two seasons, Adrian Coxson who previously played for FBS Maryland., and Leston Simpson from Big Ten Minnesota which added immediate strength to the team. The $4.3 million athletic performance was formally inaugurated in early summer ensuring the growth of the football program. Stony Brook opened the season at home against the against Northeast Conference Central Connecticut routing the Blue Devils in a 49–17 victory. Stony Brook hosted Pace at home, a Division II team, defeating the settlers in lopsided 77–7 victory to start the season 2–0. The following week the Seawolves traveled to Syracuse to battle against the FBS Syracuse Orange. Stony Brook led for most of the game but fell 17–28 in the second half. Stony Brook returned home for homecoming to face the Patriot League Colgate Raiders in front of the largest crowd in LaValle Stadium history, a reported 10,278 fans, in a comeback 32–31 late game victory. Stony Brook once again showed their dominance as they traveled to West Point, NY to face off against the Army Black Knights for an eventual 23–3 victory, a milestone for the program, the first against a team from the Football Bowl Subdivision and went on to climb the Sports Network poll in the 13th position, the highest ever. Stony Brook opened Big South play on a high note beating Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, and Presbyterian, and VMI to position the program as the sixth best in the Sports Network poll, riding a seven-game winning streak, and winning at least a share of the Big South Championship for the fourth year. However, the Seawolves fell to the Liberty Flames and struggled to create offense falling 28–14. The ensuing three-way tiebreaker handed the conference's automatic bid to Coastal Carolina. The Seawolves earned their first ever at-large berth to the playoffs, a first-round home matchup against the Villanova Wildcats. Stony Brook defeated Villanova 20–10 and advanced to the second round against Montana State. The Seawolves traveled to Bozeman to face off against the Bobcats falling 16–10 to end their season.

2013: Joining the Colonial Athletic Association

In mid July 2012, rumors surfaced in the media of Stony Brook being a target for CAA Football. In early August, the CAA confirmed that Stony Brook, along with in-state rival Albany, will be joining CAA Football for the 2013 season.

It was announced early in 2013 that Stony Brook will be facing FBS Boston College and Buffalo. Boston College eventually dropped the Seawolves for Villanova while Stony Brook picked Penn for a scrimmage in August 31. Stony Brook will play their first CAA game against Rhode Island and will open their home season on September 28. Stony Brook will face their SUNY rival Albany on November 23, the last week of the regular season. In 2016 Stony Brook knocked off 2 ranked Richmond pulling off a 42–21 victory at home.

Championships

The Seawolves won their first Division-I Conference championship in the 2005 Season while playing in the Northeast Conference with an end of the season record of 6–4, 5–2 in the Northeast. In the 2009 season the Seawolves again were conference Champions, this time, as members of the Big South Conference with a record of 6–5, 5–0 in the Big South. The Seawolves felt short of a trip to the FCS Championship as they lost their season finale against the Liberty Flames 54–28 and allowed more than 40 points, successfully eliminating them from contention but remaining Co-Champions of the Big South for the second year straight . They ended the 2010 season with a 6–5, 5–1 record. In 2011 the Seawolves claimed their first outright Big South Championship with a 41–31 victory over #16 Liberty in the de facto Big South Championship Game. This is their third consecutive Big South Championship, this time advancing for the first time to the 2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship as an automatic qualifier. In 2012, the Seawolves returned to the playoffs as Co-Champions of the Big South and advanced for the second straight year to the second round.

Conference Championships

"*" Co-Champions

Playoffs

The Seawolves have appeared in the Division I-AA/FCS Playoffs 2 times. Their combined record is 2–2.

Rivalries

Albany is Stony Brook's most fierce rival in football. They play heated games in front of passionate fans alternating hosting the game each year. It is usually the last game of the CAA conference schedule for both teams.

Mike & Mike of ESPN radio coined and popularized the name The Battle for the Butter for football game between Maine and Stony Brook in 2008. At that time Stony Brook played football in Big South Conference and Maine played in CAA. Since then Stony Brook has moved to the CAA, and the teams play each other every year.

Despite the publicity, and now playing more frequently, neither fan base has treated each other as rivals; rather, Maine and Stony Brook fans consider UNH and Albany, respectively, as main rivals.

Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium

Built in 2002, the LaValle Stadium is the on-campus home of the Stony Brook Seawolves football team. LaValle Stadium has a seating capacity of 8,300. It was constructed with a cost of approximately $22 million and it is the largest outdoor facility in Suffolk County. It was named after the New York state senator who was instrumental in getting the funding for the stadium. The stadium is also shared with the school soccer and lacrosse teams. In October, 2012 it was reported that the University has allocated $5.7 million for the addition of at least 2,000 seats to LaValle Stadium, which would bring the capacity up to 10,000.

Dubin Family Athletic Performance Center

In February 2011 it was announced that a new strength and conditioning center will be erected in the north side of the Stony Brook indoor Sports Complex. It will be a 8,000-square-foot (740 m²) facility set to be completed during the fall 2011. In Spring 2012, the facility was inaugurated. The facility will provide the Seawolves with a world-class fitness facility. The facility will be named after the Glenn Dubin who donated over $4.3 million for the construction of the project, the largest athletic donation in the SUNY system. Dubin is alumni of Stony Brook who graduated in 1978.