Sept. 5, 2006

Question

If a 12 game football schedule is approved for 2007 could we see an Ivy League opponent or a team such as Holy Cross, VMI or Colgate on the Seawolves schedule?

Paul Dufficy - Lindenhurst, N.Y.

Answer

Dear Paul,

Thanks for your email and terrific question. While it is still unclear whether or not a 12-game schedule will be approved by the NCAA in the near future (recently a 12th game was disapproved for 1AA and I am not optimistic it will get approved in the near future), it will have no bearing on the quality of schedule that we will develop for our football program in the coming years. As you may know, we have embarked on our first year of scholarship football commencing this season 2006. This 2006 season is our final one as an associate member of the Northeast Conference (NEC) as we plan to compete as an Independent (unaffiliated with a conference) in 2007 and beyond as part of a comprehensive plan to upgrade our football program and thus compete at the highest level of I-AA football. Our first game as a scholarship football program versus Hofstra University last week was a glimpse of what will sure to be a very exciting future for Stony Brook University football under the direction of head coach Chuck Priore.

Recently, Stony Brook University was recognized and ranked as one of the Top 100 universities in the nation by US News and World Report and our vision for athletics is to have our entire athletic program mirror the reputation and prestige currently enjoyed by our academic collegues. In the coming years, Stony Brook football will compete against some of the finest institutions and football programs in the country. For example, next year (2007) our football program will compete against Youngstown State University, University of Richmond, Hofstra University, Bucknell University, Georgetown University and several other well respected 1AA football programs.

Looking forward, we have already signed a contract with Brown University from the Ivy League and several other Patriot League and Atlantic-10 institutions to compete in 2008 and 2009. One year at Stony Brook and one year on the road. So as you can see the future is bright and the competition will be fierce.

Support from our fans and friends like you will serve as a catalyst for our success and our vision for success moving forward. Thanks again for your e-mail and I hope to see you at our next home game on October 7 at 2:00pm.

Go Seawolves!

Sincerely,

Jim Fiore