Oct. 10, 2006

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Wither Stony Brook football? Not so fast. The Seawolves have emerged from the dead zone to become perhaps the favorite to repeat as Northeast Conference champions. Stony Brook leaves the Northeast after this season for an independent schedule on the way to additional scholarships and a conference yet to be determined.

After starting 0-4 and being ripped by New Hampshire (62-7) and Massachusetts (48-7) along the way, Stony Brook is back in its own conference, where the competition is more suited to the 27 scholarships the school is offering this season.

"We pulled no panic buttons," first year coach Chuck Priore said of the winless start. "We didn't change practice, we didn't change a play. We were able to step back and take a beating and understand reality. We didn't scoreboard watch. I tried to tell everybody that; nobody would believe me. I give the most credit to the players. If you think about adversity that could happen. Kids could not believe in you, be late for meetings, kids could stop working hard in practice." Not likely with this Patton-like coach.

Stony Brook is 2-0 in its conference with victories over Monmouth, which had been 4-0, and Albany, the pre-season favorite and hotshot after beating usual I-AA power Delaware, 17-10, earlier in the season. "Albany kicked Delaware's butt on film," Priore said. "Albany didn't scare me as far as kicking our butt because when I watched them against Central Connecticut and Cornell they looked human. We can't beat Delaware today because we beat Albany. Wouldn't want to schedule them, don't do it. Delaware is only getting beat by Albany once in their life. And one time by a Northeast Conference school."

That said, Stony Brook will not deviate from its mission to upgrade to full scholarship (63) status in I-AA, which is why it played two top-20 teams in the Atlantic-10. Next season the ambitious Seawolves will travel to Youngstown, another perennial I-AA power. He insists the time is right to upgrade. "When you step back its called neglected opportunity," Priore said of not accepting a tougher schedule. "If you don't do it today five years later you'd say why didn't we? We met a lot and talked about the ramifications. I think we got together and said 'Lets's go for it.' What [the Albany victory] proves we can play with good football teams on any given Saturday. What it doesn't mean is that we are a great football program. This is exciting, but it's certainly a baby step in the process."

Over 6,000 fans watched Stony Brook beat Albany last Saturday--where freshman defensive back Cory Giddings returned two fumbles for touchdowns and quarterback Josh Dudash finished 16-for-22 for 236 yards-- and one wonders how many more would show up for an A-10 opponent. On the same day in Hempstead, I-AA Hofstra drew about 7,000 for Villanova. Overall. The best college football crowds on Long Island still go back to the old Hofstra-Post and Hofstra-St.John's days in former decades of non-scholarship play. But those days are not returning in the current climate of bigger is better. Priore said the Northeast edict of no more than 30 scholarships is consistent with Stony Brook's goals. "If they stay at 30 we'd only be able to give three scholarships next year," he said. "The team would only change by three football players. Are we going to beat New Hampshire and Hofstra in 2008 and 2009?"

No matter the opponent, the fans want victories. Stony Brook wants wins against the more significant names in scholarship football. Priore invites fans to come along for the ride, but makes it clear it will be on his terms, saying, "We as a football program play the game for a lot of different reasons and the fans watch the game. We play the games to get better as a team to learn the life lessons that a game teaches us. I don't coach the game for my dad... for you. They don't play for you. You love your parents, you love your friends but they don't do close to what you do on Sunday through Saturday to prepare so you got to block that out."

"The only pressure I will ever feel is of a fan looks out and says they are disorganized, undisciplined, they rag tag it and they don't represent us well. That will never happen. A fan will show up and know we are ready to play."

Athletic director Jim Fiore said the university's administration wants a bigger-time schedule. "We were hired to get this university on the proverbial map," he said. "Get off of Suffolk County, get off Long Island and get the university on the map." Fiore rhymes with Priore for a reason. They are like-minded in their goals.

That is why Fiore hired Priore. "We are going to stand by the plan," Priore said. "I know they [Stony Brook's administration] are going to stand by their support of me. If we fail in 3 to 5 years from now we fail valiantly. As long as you get marred in the face of battle and you go for it. Then it is okay to fail."

As they say, failure is not an option.