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The Stony Brook University Athletics Department announced today that head football coach Chuck Priore will not return to the Seawolves sidelines next season.
Priore’s departure marks the end of an 18-year era filled with ups and downs for the program’s second football coach. It comes two days after Stony Brook (0-10) completed its first winless season in its history.
Under his leadership, Stony Brook notched its first-ever Division I playoff victory, a 31-28 win over Albany in 2011. Priore (97-101 overall) also coached the team to its first win over an FBS program, a 23-3 decision over Army in 2012.
The Seawolves will conduct a national search to find the third head coach in the program’s 40-year history, Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron said. In the mean time, offensive coordinator Andrew Dresner will serve as interim head coach. Sam Kornhauser guided the team from 1984 to 2005.
“As we embark upon this transition, the search for the next leader of our football program begins immediately,” Heilbron said. “I am grateful to Chuck for his 18 years of dedication to Stony Brook University and to the countless young men whose lives he has impacted.
“Under his direction, our program earned multiple playoff appearances while sending our first wave of players into the NFL,” he added.
Indeed, six players coached by Priore at Stony Brook have played in the NFL.
Plenty of Seawolves in the pros
Stony Brook University’s student newspaper The Statesman reported that Heilbron confirmed that Priore was not fired from Stony Brook Athletics.
“I didn’t fire Chuck, we’ve simply made a change in leadership,” Heilbron told The Statesman. “We’re working through the logistics of what all of that looks like. When Chuck and I met, I told him we were making a change, and he has the right to do due diligence on his end, as do we.”
Over his nearly two decades at the helm, Priore guided Stony Brook from 20 scholarships to a fully-funded program of 63 scholarships, the maximum allowed at the FCS level.
He led the Seawolves to four FCS postseason berths (2011, 2012, 2017 and 2018) and in 2011. Priore and the Seawolves claimed at least a share of four Big South Conference Championships (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012).
The team has not made the playoffs during the last five seasons, and has won just two games over the last two seasons.
Priore and his players earned many awards
During his tenure on Long Island, his student-athletes collected 113 conference awards. Additionally, he coached 44 All-Americans, among them Stony Brook Hall of Famer Miguel Maysonet, runner-up for the prestigious Walter Payton Award in 2012.
Priore was the Big South Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2011 and the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2012. He was twice named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year Award — 2011 and 2012.
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