Stony Brook first fielded varsity football in the 1983 season when its athletic teams were known as the Patriots. The football team transitioned into Division I in 1999 after leaving the Eastern Football Conference. In 2002, the 8,300 seat
Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium opened as the new home of Seawolves football. The program joined the Northeast Conference in 1999 and participated as an associate member until 2006. It transitioned to a fully funded FCS program from 2006 until 2008 providing the maximum scholarship allowance of 63. In 2008 Stony Brook joined the
Big South Conference. In the summer of 2012, the program announced its admission into the Colonial Athletic Association. In 2017, the stadium was expanded to add further 2,000 seats, which along with a standing capacity of at least 2,000, gives the stadium a total capacity of 12,300.
Early days (1984–1998) After Stony Brook University's growth saw its enrollment rise to over 16,000 students, the athletic department started taking shape with the steady development of its collegiate programs. Football was one of them, and Stony Brook initiated competition against regional universities and fellow
SUNY members schools. Stony Brook fielded varsity football for the first time in the 1983 season playing their first game against
SUNY Maritime on September 18, 1983 but it was in 1984 when the team started playing a predominantly Division III schedule, and stats where first recorded by the NCAA. By 1985, Stony Brook did not schedule club teams for the first time. In 1988, Stony Brook joined its first ever conference, the
Liberty Football Conference in
NCAA Division III, where it stayed until 1991. The Liberty Football Conference was a New York-only league where Stony Brook played again teams such as Hofstra,
St. John's and
Iona. Stony Brook left for the
Freedom Football Conference in 1992, where it had winning seasons every year. When Stony Brook announced plans to transition to Division I in all sports, it joined
Division II's
Eastern Football Conference in 1997 for two years.
Starting Division I, joining and leaving NEC (1999–2007) Stony Brook entered Division I football in
1999, participating in the
Northeast Conference until 2006.
Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, then known as Seawolves Stadium, began construction in April 2000 and opened on September 14, 2002. The Seawolves went 8–2 (5–2 NEC) in 2002 but struggled to replicate its success in following years. Head coach
Sam Kornhauser announced before the season that 2005 would be his last at Stony Brook. On the final play of the year, Stony Brook won its first NEC co-championship with a 6–4 (5–2 NEC) season. Stony Brook transitioned into a scholarship team with full funding beginning in 2006 and Chuck Priore was named the Seawolves' second head coach in program history. In Priore's first season, Stony Brook awarded the equivalent of 27 scholarships to 38 players and began broadcasting its games on
90.1 WUSB-FM, the campus radio station. Priore hosted a Sunday night talk show on WUSB-FM. Stony Brook played a harder schedule, facing
Hofstra, No. 1
New Hampshire and No. 9
UMass. They lost their first four games of the season but won four straight in conference only to lose their title hopes to
Central Connecticut. Despite signing a contract to remain in the NEC through 2010, Stony Brook left to become an FCS independent in 2007 because it wanted to offer the FCS-maximum 63 scholarships instead of the NEC's limit of 30. The Seawolves were able to schedule No. 20 Richmond, No. 6 Youngstown State, No. 14 Hofstra and No. 24 Elon and finished 6–5.
Rise to FCS prominence in Big South (2008–2012) Stony Brook joined the
Big South in
2008, which offered 63 scholarships. After winning the season opener 42–26 against
Colgate, the Seawolves lost their next five, including 33–0 to
Liberty in the conference opener, but won four of their last five to finish their first Big South season 5–6 (3–2 Big South). The ESPN radio show
Mike & Mike coined the name "The Battle for the Butter" for Stony Brook's game against Maine, which the Seawolves lost 28–13. In 2009, Stony Brook won its first share of the Big South title by winning five of six conference games, including upsetting Liberty 36–33 in the season finale. In December 2009, cross-island rival Hofstra announced the immediate folding of its football program. Hofstra running back duo
Miguel Maysonet and Brock Jackolski both transferred to Stony Brook in the offseason. The
2010 season saw Stony Brook schedule its first game against an FBS opponent, losing 59–14 to
South Florida despite leading for the entire first quarter. While Stony Brook won its first five conference games by at least two scores, they lost 54–28 to Liberty in the season finale, settling for a share of its second straight share of the Big South title but not the automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs, which
Coastal Carolina won by allowing the least points in conference play.Stony Brook lost its first two games in 2011 to FBS teams, falling to
UTEP 31–24 in overtime after allowing 21 unanswered points and being routed 35–7 by
Buffalo. The Seawolves fell to 0–3 by losing to
Brown 21–20 in the home opener. Then, Stony Brook began a program-record nine-game winning streak, beating
Lafayette 37–20 in the conference opener and scoring at least 40 points in each game for the rest of the regular season. The Seawolves set the Big South single-game points record by crushing
Gardner-Webb 76–28 and defeated
Liberty 41–31 in the
de facto Big South Championship Game to earn the conference's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, Stony Brook's first. In the first round of the 2011 FCS Playoffs, Stony Brook paired up against in-state rivals
Albany, coming back from an 18-point deficit to defeat the Great Danes 31–28 in front of a then-record-setting crowd of 8,286, capped off by a game-sealing interception from safety
Dominick Reyes. In the second round, Stony Brook lost 34–27 to top-seeded
Sam Houston State to end the season at 9–4 (6–0 Big South). Before the
2012 season, the Seawolves added several FBS transfers, including
Iowa's Marcus Coker,
Maryland's Adrian Coxson, and
Minnesota's Leston Simpson. In addition, the Dubin Family Athletic Performance Center opened in the early summer. Stony Brook started 2–0 and then led for most of the first half against FBS
Syracuse, but lost 28–17. The Seawolves broke their attendance record with 10,278 in a 32–31 comeback win over Colgate during Homecoming. Stony Brook made history in Week 5 by defeating
Army 23–3. It was the program's first victory against an FBS opponent. The Seawolves opened Big South play on a high note and rode a seven-game winning streak to a No. 6 ranking in the FCS national polls, the highest in school history. Stony Brook lost the season finale 28–14 to Liberty, giving Coastal Carolina the autobid, but won a share of the Big South title for the fourth straight year. Stony Brook was granted an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs for the team's second consecutive appearance. The Seawolves beat
Villanova 20–10 at home in the first round but lost 16–10 to third-seeded
Montana State in the second round to end their season at 10–3 (5–1 Big South). The team's ten wins were the most in program history. Stony Brook graduated running back
Miguel Maysonet, the Big South and the school's all-time leader in rushing yards (4,725) and rushing touchdowns (48). Maysonet ran for 1,964 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2012 but finished in second place behind
Old Dominion quarterback
Taylor Heinicke for the
Walter Payton Award, given to the top FCS player in the country.
CAA Football era (2013–present) In July 2012, rumors surfaced in the media of Stony Brook being a target for CAA Football. In early August, the CAA confirmed that Stony Brook, along with in-state rival
Albany, would join CAA Football for the 2013 season.
Struggling to adjust (2013–2016) Stony Brook scheduled matches against FBS
Boston College and
Buffalo for 2013, but Boston College pulled out. Stony Brook beat Rhode Island 24–0 in their first CAA game but lost their CAA home opener to No. 3
Towson. In the first edition of the
Empire Clash against Albany with both teams in the CAA, Stony Brook won 24–3 in the season finale to end the season 5–6 (3–5 CAA). The 2014 season began with losses to non-conference opponents
Bryant and FBS
UConn, and Stony Brook's record stood at 1–4 by the end of September. A three-game winning streak brought them back to .500, but they would lose three of their final four games, including the season finale at Albany, to end the season with a 5–7 record. Stony Brook began their 2015 season with a match against FBS
Toledo, but the game was suspended and canceled due to severe thunderstorms. While they won their first two games, including an upset against No. 13 New Hampshire, the Seawolves would go on to lose five in a row, all to conference opponents. Stony Brook won the final three games of the season but still ended with a record of 5–5 (3–3 CAA). In 2016, Stony Brook won their season opener against No. 19 North Dakota before losing the next game to FBS
Temple, who were led by head coach
Matt Rhule. In Week 3, Stony Brook upset No. 2 ranked Richmond, pulling off a 42–14 victory at home. The surprise win helped the Seawolves earn a No. 20 ranking in the FCS STATS poll the next week, the team's first ranking since 2013. However, they were upset at home the next week by Sacred Heart, losing 38–10. Stony Brook would win their next three games to improve to 5–2 and an undefeated 4–0 in conference. Their season nosedived from there, as the Seawolves lost the final four games of the season to finish 5–6 (4–4 CAA). Stony Brook did not have a single winning season in any of their first four years in the CAA.
Back to the playoffs (2017–2018) Before the 2017 season started, Stony Brook was predicted to finish 8th out of 12 in the CAA. While they lost the season opener at No. 19 FBS-ranked
South Florida, Stony Brook ended the season with a 10–3 record, going 7–1 in CAA play to finish in second place behind James Madison. Their lone conference loss came at home against
Delaware. In the regular season finale, Stony Brook won 20–19 at Maine on a
Hail Mary which was caught in the end zone as time expired in the fourth quarter; the pass was ranked No. 1 on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays. Stony Brook received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, beating
Lehigh 59–29 in the first round before losing to James Madison in the second round by a score of 26–7. The season was the Seawolves' most successful since 2012 as they won more than five games for the first time since joining the CAA. Stony Brook finished the regular season ranked No. 10 in the FCS STATS poll, the team's highest since a No. 6 ranking in 2012. Stony Brook began their 2018 season with a 38–0 road loss against FBS opponent
Air Force. The team would rebound, winning their next four games including a 29–27 comeback victory against Villanova after trailing 21–0 in the second quarter. The team was upset on the road by
Towson but beat New Hampshire 35–7 and Rhode Island 52–14. A major upset bid against No. 3 James Madison fell short 13–10, but Stony Brook came out of the bye week by toppling first-place Delaware 17–3. In the final game of the season, No. 10 Stony Brook was massively upset on the road, losing 25–23 to last-place Albany in a rivalry game that was decided on a last-second field goal. Regardless, Stony Brook still earned an at-large berth to the FCS Playoffs after finishing 7–4 (5–3 CAA), where they lost 28–14 to
Southeast Missouri State in the first round.
End of Priore's tenure (2019–2023) Stony Brook began 2019 with a 4–1 record, losing only to FBS
Utah State and future first-round NFL quarterback
Jordan Love. The team set a new attendance record with 12,812 during Homecoming in a 45–38 OT loss to No. 2 James Madison. The Seawolves upset No. 5 Villanova 36–35 but lost six of their last seven games of the season to end 5–7 (2–6 CAA). The 2020 season was played in spring 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, where Stony Brook went 1–3 against all CAA teams and saw its final two games canceled because of opponents' outbreaks. on November 11, 2023 In 2021, Stony Brook started 1–5 for the first time since 2008. In one of those losses, the Seawolves trailed by only 10 points at halftime against No. 4 FBS
Oregon. Stony Brook won four of its last five games, including a 34–17 upset of No. 14 Delaware. However, Stony Brook still missed the playoffs for a third straight season with a 5–6 (4–4 CAA) record. In 2022, Stony Brook finished with a program-worst 2–9 record, but managed to outdo themselves in futility in 2023 by going 0–10 for the first winless season in program history. Priore was fired days after season's end, ending his 18-year tenure as Stony Brook's head coach with a 97–101 record and five straight losing seasons.
Billy Cosh era (2024–present) On December 13, 2023,
Billy Cosh was hired as the third head coach in program history. == Conference affiliations ==