Aug. 27, 2006

Stony Brook, N.Y. -

BY JEFF GOLD
Newsday Staff Writer

Chuck Priore has won 30 straight games. Three straight undefeated seasons. Three years without suffering an excruciating last-second defeat, three years without walking through a desolate postgame locker room, three years without dissecting a losing game tape.

That presumably will come to an end this season.

Stony Brook University's new football coach has no illusions of going undefeated. It is a first-year scholarship program with a schedule more suitable for a top-25 team.

Priore already has started playing amateur psychologist, talking to his team about all the different ways to measure progress.

"If you think the only success is winning, then you're setting yourself up for failure," said Priore, who came to Stony Brook after coaching the last six seasons at Trinity College. "The mental approach and improving is the most important thing for us. We need to set the correct goals and focus on improvement."

Priore's arrival coincides with Stony Brook's effort to bring its entire athletic program to a new standard.

For the first time, the school is offering athletic scholarships to football players. The university said it has awarded the equivalent of 27 scholarships to 38 players and that the ultimate goal is to reach the NCAA limit of 63.

"Recruits are going to ask you two things," Priore said. "How much is it going to cost, and who are you going to play? Hopefully, you tell them 'nothing' and 'the top teams in the country.'"

So while the scholarships are still in their initial stage, Stony Brook has elected to play a powerhouse non-conference schedule against teams that already are at the level it is striving to reach.

The Seawolves open Thursday at home against Hofstra, which beat Stony Brook, 55-0, last season. SBU also has road games against New Hampshire, the preseason No. 2 team in the country, and UMass, a perennial playoff team.

All three programs are 63-scholarship schools.

"The key words for us are 'long-term goals,'" Priore said. "Short term, we want to take care of business and continue to educate ourselves on how to get to this level. And nothing will be conceded on Saturdays. But if I fell asleep today and woke up in 2008, hopefully I could be talking about how even the matchups are with those types of schools."

Running back Assad Hafiz said: "There are always going to be rough Saturdays. That's not a concern. I'd be concerned if we settle for anything less than is expected of us, not if the game is rough and tough."

Competing at an elite I-AA level almost certainly is several years away, but it's realistic for Stony Brook to be one of the top teams in the Northeast Conference in its final year as a member. The Seawolves finished 7-4 last season, and their 5-2 conference record gave them a share of the Northeast title.

Stony Brook is changing from a spread offense to a one-back set. Last year's starting quarterback, Josh Dudash (2,118 passing yards), returns, but Priore said both Dudash and Andrew Garrett will play and that he doesn't believe in playing only one quarterback.

"The quarterback is another position on the field. It's no different from anything else," Priore said. "I played three quarterbacks in the first quarter of a game last year."

Hafiz (426 rushing yards) and receiver Lynell Suggs (334 yards, five touchdowns) should be key contributors. The offensive line is inexperienced, with only one returning starter.

On defense, Priore has installed a 3-4 system, and, according to him, senior linebacker Chris Tomasky can "change a game physically."

"It's exciting to try to help this program take the next step," Tomasky said. "The season will be a tough test for us, but I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do."