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STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- There are three phases of a football game – offense, defense and special teams – and some would consider having a solid special teams unit is one of the most vital parts in putting a successful program on the field.
 
This is no different in Stony Brook's case. When the Seawolves take the field at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Thursday Aug. 29 against Bryant (GET YOUR TICKETS NOW), special teams, coached by Tony Thompson in his seventh season as the special teams coordinator and 17^th as a coach in the program, will hold an important part of the outcome of the opener as well as the throughout the rest of the season.
 
Stony Brook returns sophomore kicker Jack Pruban (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect), who in 2018 handled kickoffs and some of the place kicking duties. Also, back for the Seawolves is senior long snapper Billy Barber (Sound Beach, N.Y./Rocky Point) who handled the snaps on all special teams kicks over the past two seasons.
 
"This is a very talented group," Thompson said. "We have a lot of guys competing right now. Billy Barber is our snapper and I've watched a lot of film in the offseason and I don't know of many people that are better than he is."
 
Junior punter Mitchell Wright (Sydney, Australia/Barker) returns to the squad as well, but saw limited punting action in 2018 behind Marc Nolan.
 
"We have Mitch (Wright) back," Thompson added. "He is multi-talented and can do a lot of different things. Jack Pruban as been solid and we excited for him to take another step in his maturation in this program."
 
Adding depth at kicker are redshirt freshman Kris McDonald (Islip, N.Y./Islip) and freshman Angelo Guglielmello (Nutley, N.J./St. Joseph's Regional), while sophomore Brandon Cuillo (East Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) adds depth at punter.
 
"We really have some depth at kicker and punter and on game day who ever is back there is going to be fine and that helps coach Thompson," Barber said. "I'm looking forward to this season and change can put your team moving in a positive direction and this is one of those cases."
 
New to the Stony Brook's special teams until are the returners led by preseason All-American graduate transfer Jean Constant (Delray Beach, Fla./Village Academy) who joins the team after a stellar undergraduate career at Bryant. Constant, who is slated to return kickoffs and punts for the Seawolves, tallied six return touchdowns during his time with the Bulldogs and earned back-to-back All-America honors in 2017 and 2018.
 
"Jean (Constant) is super talented and I know that because we tried to kick the ball off to him twice last year and then we decided not to anymore because he was ripping us," Thompson said. "He has caught on to what we are doing scheme wise and how we run things here and has really seamlessly blended in with our guys. He is a weapon and threat and it will be exciting to seem him every time he is back to return a kick."
 
In addition to Constant in the return game are redshirt freshman Ty Son Lawton (Staten Island N.Y./Curtis) and sophomore Seba Nekhet (Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton)
 
Stony Brook has seven home games in 2019 that get underway on Thursday Aug. 29 against Bryant. The Seawolves also welcome Wagner (Sept. 14) and Fordham (Sept. 21) in non-conference games at LaValle Stadium. The CAA Football home schedule gets underway on Oct. 5 when James Madison visits Long Island for Homecoming. New Hampshire (Oct. 12), Towson (Nov. 9) and UAlbany (Nov. 23) round out the home conference schedule.
 
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