STONY BROOK, N.Y. — It was 2012, and No. 11 Stony Brook football was taking on Villanova in the opening round of the 2012 FCS Division I Football Championship.
 
Omar King, who would land a job on Stony Brook's staff just two seasons later, was at the game as a fan. He watched New York native and Stony Brook Hall of Famer Miguel Maysonet carry the ball 25 times for 160 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Stony Brook dominated the time of possession. They only threw the ball six times in the 20-10 win.
 
King, a running backs coach, was enticed. It was his favorite type of football: ground and pound. Now, as he enters his sixth year coaching Stony Brook running backs, King has his own group of New York natives ready to run wild this season. It's a group of seven running backs all from New York State, and King, a New Yorker through and through, is excited about the group he has.
 
"I expect great things because we have a lot of talent," King said. "We have speed and explosiveness. We have power, downhill runners. We have guys that are smart and smooth. We have all the types of guys."
 
It's a group led by Seba Nekhet, Ty Son Lawton and Jadon Turner. All three guys have experience at the college level, each making big impacts in different games a season ago.
 
Nekhet is ready to take on an expanded role. After transitioning from wide receiver to running back, the Brooklyn native is looking forward to stepping up and increasing his workload in 2021. The redshirt junior played in nine games last season, rushing for 514 yards on 95 carries. He broke out against Fordham, carrying the ball for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
 
"I think I played pretty well last year," Nekhet said. "I just tried to do my part in contributing to the team. I plan on taking a bigger role this season and stepping up to the plate."
 
King speaks highly of Nekhet: "He's a very smooth kid. He's able to find his way through tackles. He's a very smart player."
 
Lawton is another guy King looks forward to coaching. The redshirt sophomore enrolled early at Stony Brook and arrived on campus in January of 2018. The Staten Island native dealt with injuries in 2019, but showed signs of greatness when he was on the field.
 
"He's physical and he can extend plays," King said. "He's back to 100 percent, and I think he's going to be a physical, downhill runner and that's what we're working on."
 
Lawton, who had three consecutive 100-yard games in the middle of last season, acclimated quickly to the college level after his early arrival.
 
"I had a good spring ball my first year and it helped me adjust pretty well to the team," Lawton said. "Getting that extra year really helped me."
 
Another back that King will have on the field this season is Turner. The Rochester native played in two games last season — one being a 101-yard breakout game against Delaware — but maintained his redshirt status. The Irondequoit graduate was thrilled to receive an offer from Stony Brook, and looks forward to taking advantage of his opportunities.
 
"I was not sure that I was going to have this opportunity coming out of high school," Turner said. "When I got the offer from Stony Brook and I knew I got to represent my state so close to home, I was really excited for the opportunity."
 
For Nekhet, being in the program for a while has taught him a lot. Learning under guys like Jordan Gowins and Donald Liotine — a pair of backs who rank high in the Stony Brook record books — played an important role in his career. Now an upperclassman, playing with guys from his home state is something he enjoys on a daily basis.
 
"It's definitely really cool to have all New York guys in the running backs room," he said. "I knew some of them before I got to college. We all speak the same lingo and have similar culture being from New York so it's definitely cool."
 
The relationship between the backs off the field translates to resounding success on the field. The Seawolves had the second-best rushing attack in the CAA a season ago, and consistently rank near the top of the country leaderboard.
 
King is also excited about the younger players in the group. Roland Dempster and Jayden Cook, a duo of freshmen, have the potential to be "fan favorites" in the future, King said. Jahquel Webb and Danny Mauriello round out the group.
 
But in terms of right now, the running backs are focused on dominating in 2021. Playing for a run-heavy offense in their home state is what brought them to Stony Brook, and they look forward to filling the footsteps of the talented running backs that came before them.
 
"If we do what we need to do," Lawton said, "we can be as great as guys like Jordan Gowins and Donald Liotine."