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Stony Brook Athletic Director Shawn Heilbron

Shawn Heilbronn. Photos courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

By Daniel Dunaief

In an exclusive interview the day before the homecoming game, Stony Brook Athletic Director Shawn Heilbron spoke about the department’s commitment to the community, the ongoing climb in grade point average among athletes and productive and expanding collaborations with other parts of the university.

“Homecoming is always such a fun time,” said Heilbron, who has been Athletic Director at Stony Brook for 10 years. “Our campus is buzzing with events and activities. It’s always a plus when our football team is bringing tremendous momentum, as we are this year.”

Indeed, the Seawolves trounced William & Mary 35-13 during homecoming, bringing the school’s rank in an AFC Coaches Poll to 20th — the highest it’s been since 2018. Ticket sales reached 7,599 for the game.

Heilbron appreciates the role sports plays in forming bonds between the university and the residents in the surrounding Long Island neighborhoods.

“Athletics is a great connector between the school and the community,” said Heilbron. 

As the department undergoes an exercise in branding and messaging, the Athletic Director suggested that the core of the program involves transforming young people’s lives through competition, academics and involvement in the community.

When he meets with prospective student-athletes, he tells them he wants them to feel that coming to Stony Brook is “the best decision I ever made in my life. It changes the trajectory of where I’m going.”

Winning helps shine a spotlight on the university, bringing goodwill and local pride to the area.

Heilbron, however, also believes that includes encouraging athletes to get involved with people in the area, whether that’s reading to students in elementary school, showing up at events in Suffolk County or going to the Children’s Hospital.

“Giving back to others is going to help you become a better person,” Heilbron said. “Our student athletes, our coaches, our staff, embrace that relationship with people.”

Teachers, club leaders, or area organizations who would like to tap into the university’s athletic program to provide inspiration or help with local efforts can do so through the school’s website, by connecting with Heilbron or with anyone on his leadership team, including Arnika Edwards, who oversees career and leadership development.

Edwards is a “fantastic leader in our department” who helps “organize so much of our community engagement,” Heilbron said. “We will help you get in touch with the right person.”

Wide range of sports

Heilbron encourages residents to attend any of the wide range of sporting events, where they can see a “group of young people who work so hard, give everything to represent Stony Brook, but also the community.”

Recently, the women’s soccer team played in front of a packed crowd of over 500 people for its final home game against Northeastern University. In a game Northeastern tied 2-2 in the 69th minute, Kerry Pearson scored the game-winner three minutes later, giving Stony Brook a crowd-pleasing 3-2 victory.

Heilbron said he urges fans to attend women’s basketball, which has also had recent success.

“We have a pretty strong fan base for men’s basketball,” Heilbron said. “I always say, ‘Come to a women’s game. Our women’s team has been really good.’ When they come, they are amazed at how much fun it is and how talented our women are.”

Word has also gotten out about the women’s lacrosse team, which is the strongest team at the school. “When you come and see the athleticism and the talent, it’s really remarkable,” Heilbron said.

Cross discipline opportunities

The athletic program has teamed up with several other departments throughout the university, including Health Science Professions, Renaissance School of Medicine and the School of Communication and Journalism. The school of journalism leads a broadcast that does the halftime show, and the athletic department is working on additional partnerships.

The school of health sciences is developing a lab that the university will build within the athletic facility that could help student athletes as well as those studying the field of health sciences.

“There’s so much in terms of technology now that’s being utilized with recovery and with injury prevention,” said Heilbron. “We’re excited to take the next step forward.”

Amid ongoing concerns about the emotional and psychological well-being of students, the athletic department has embedded two full-time mental health counselors in their building.

“The need for mental health services for young people nationally regardless of whether they are athletes or not has increased tremendously,” Heilbron said.

Heilbron is grateful that any stigma around seeking help for mental health challenges has decreased sufficiently that students feel more comfortable asking for help. “Student athletes are saying, ‘I want to utilize this, this is important to me,’” said Heilbron.

In addition to two busy, full-time mental health professionals, the department has a sports psychologist and refers students to other campus assistance, if needed. As of now, Heilbron feels the department is “meeting the student athletes where they are,” he said, “but if the time arises where we have to invest in a third [mental health professional], we’ll make that a priority.”

The athletic department also works to help students prepare for the balance between significant academic and athletic demands. Advisors urge students to build in time to eat, receive therapy for injuries, and work with tutors. “Our students know that if you come to Stony Brook, this is going to be a challenging education,” Heilbron said.

Student athlete grades have been improving since Heilbron arrived. A decade ago, the grade point average was 3.06. Last year, the GPA for student athletes climbed to 3.24. “It’s a testament to our student athletes, but also to our academic advisors,” said Heilbron.

Better facilities

As for the facilities, Stony Brook is looking for ways to improve them.

The university is raising money for a baseball/ softball complex and is looking to improve several locker rooms. “Locker rooms are always something we’re trying to enhance,” said Heilbron. “It’s where our student athletes spend most of their time.”

Stony Brook is completing a renovation of the women’s basketball locker room and is hoping to enhance the locker rooms of the football and lacrosse teams.

“We are constantly feeling a sense of urgency, not only for our recruits, but we want our current student athletes to feel that sense of excitement with new spaces,” said Heilbron

Shawn Heilbron’s speed round answers:

Favorite movie: Bull Durham

Favorite sport to watch: football

Favorite sport to play: baseball

Position in baseball: 1st base

If you had to coach a team, 

what would you coach: baseball

Mantra: I don’t have a mantra, but I tell people to “be positive.”

Hero in life: My dad

Hero in sports: Roger Staubach

Favorite sports team: Dallas Cowboys

Favorite moment in sports:
“Winning the 2016 America East Championship with our men’s basketball team” which allowed them to go to March Madness for the first time in the school’s history. Fans rushed the court. “That was the coolest moment.”

Most common coaching mistake: Overthinking a situation.

 

Pixabay

By Kenny Spurrell

After the removal of former head coach Chuck Priore in Nov. 2023, the Stony Brook football team has found his replacement in hopes that brighter days are ahead.

Finishing the 2023 season with an 0-10 record — the worst in program history — was not the way the Seawolves hoped to bounce back from 2022 that ended with a 2-9 finish. Just under a month after removing Priore, Stony Brook hired former Western Michigan University offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Billy Cosh to fill the role.

Cosh, 32, a resident of Smithtown, started his coaching career at Concord University in 2015, soon getting the position as a graduate assistant and quarterbacks coach for Indiana from 2016 to 2017. Cosh made the move to the Virginia Military Institute in 2018, serving as the wide receivers coach in 2018 and 2019, then getting promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Cosh jumped to Richmond in 2022 where he led a top 20 offensive SP+ rating, advancing to the second round of the FCS playoffs in his lone season. After serving as offensive coordinator at Western Michigan for the 2023 season, Cosh was named the third head football coach in Stony Brook history. At 31 years old, he became the second-youngest current head coach in NCAA Division I football.

Coaching at Richmond in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) — the same conference as the Seawolves — Cosh said he has “always admired Stony Brook from afar.” In his first head coaching position, Cosh will look to pull the Seawolves out of the cellar.

“I knew this place has a chance,” Cosh said. “I knew they had the capability, so that’s kind of what attracted me to the job.”

Football is in Cosh’s blood. Bouncing around from place to place during his upbringing, he is the son of Chris Cosh who played linebacker for Virginia Tech from 1977 to 1981. Chris coached for 40 years at multiple FCS schools such as UNLV, Maryland, Michigan State, South Carolina and many more. He currently serves as an analyst at Western Michigan.

Billy Cosh (right) set to coach Seawolves football for the 2024 season. Courtesy Stony Brook Athletics

“I thought my dad had the coolest job in the world,” Cosh said. “I was like a sponge; I was around the game all the time. I got to see different players that played in the NFL and watched how they work and watched how coaches coached, it was really unique.”

Cosh was raised with his brother, James, who went on to play football at the United States Naval Academy from 2007 to 2011. James is currently a scout for the Chicago Bears in the NFL.

Being brought up around football, Cosh was destined to be a star on the field. Attending Arundel High School in Gambrills, Md. from 2006 to 2009, Cosh won the job of starting quarterback his junior year. He went on to break seven state records that season including most passing yards (3,909) and touchdowns (56), but it paled in comparison to his senior season.

Cosh’s senior year was special, throwing for 3,913 yards and 56 touchdowns. He set Maryland state records for career completions (594), passing yards (7,433) and touchdowns (112), finishing his high school career with a 22-3 record and leaving college coaches clamoring to have him on their team.

Though Cosh’s achievements on the field spoke for themselves, he credits playing with future NFL wide receivers RJ Harris and Alec Lemon for much of his success at Arundel.

“That kind of made a big difference,” Cosh said. “I wasn’t a great player, but I was very appreciative of the guys around me.”

When the college recruitment process came around, the choice was rather simple for Cosh. At the time, his father was the defensive coordinator at Kansas State University. A chance to play at a Big 12 school and have his father guide the way was too good for Cosh to pass on, deciding to play college football as a Wildcat.

Unfortunately, when things seem too good to be true, they often are. Cosh’s coaches opted to give him a freshman redshirt his first season at Kansas State, meaning he would be sidelined and not see action the entire season.

Looking ahead to his sophomore season, Cosh realized there may not be an opportunity for him to play anytime soon. With three quarterbacks on the roster that were returning the following season, all of them were ahead of him on the depth chart. He was paid a visit by James Madison University’s head coach Mickey Matthews who told Cosh he would have a better opportunity playing for him, so Cosh made the move.

Transferring to James Madison for his sophomore year hoping that he would have the chance to play, Cosh’s wishes were not answered. Again, Cosh was at the bottom of the depth chart and did not see action the entire season, later claiming that the move from Kansas State was one that he regretted.

“I really made a rash decision to leave, Coach [Bill] Snyder told me I would regret it, and he was right in some ways,” Cosh said. “I went [to James Madison] and was kind of told I wasn’t good enough, which was probably true, I wasn’t the greatest player, but I was never really given a shot.”

Cosh realized that he would have to step down a level if he wanted to get any real playing time, opting to transfer again, this time to Butler Community College in the NJCAA. Making the move in hopes to impress scouts and get back to the Division I level, Cosh did just that.

Stony Brook football is set to open the 2024 season on Aug. 31 at Marshall University in West Virginia. Courtesy Stony Brook Athletics

Stepping down a level gave Cosh the opportunity to see the field, but the talent pool in the NJCAA was very deep. He played with “12 to 15” future NFL players and against current All-Pro players such as Tyreek Hill, Alvin Kamara and Cordarrelle Patterson.

Cosh’s lone junior college season was described as a “rebirth” for him by Butler head coach Troy Morrell. He turned heads by throwing for 2,856 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2012, but he would soon face another obstacle. Cosh tore his ACL in the NJCAA junior college championship game and lost to Iowa Western, 27-7.

Despite the sour ending, Cosh reflects on his time at Butler fondly.

“I loved that time,” Cosh said. “I loved my teammates. I loved the coaching staff … so that was awesome.”

Despite the injury, Cosh had impressed college scouts enough to receive some offers. He committed to the University of Houston before the conclusion of the 2012 season, successfully making his way back to the NCAA Division I level.

However, Cosh soon faced another roadblock. His commitment to Houston came before the injury to his knee, something that he thought would lead the team to pulling his scholarship. To Cosh’s surprise, the Cougars chose to keep him around.

Still rehabbing his ACL tear, Cosh missed the entire 2013 season due to injury. He made his debut in 2014, and though he only saw the field three times at Houston, he was able to end his college career on his terms, not others’.

Though Cosh’s time at Houston was underwhelming on the field, it was where he met his wife, Kelsey.

Being around the game of football his entire life, Cosh has faced plenty of adversity throughout his career. Due to these challenges, it makes sense that Stony Brook Athletic Director Shawn Heilbron believes that Cosh is the man for the job to bring the Seawolves back to relevance.

Kenny Spurrell is a reporter with The SBU Media Group, part of Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism’s Working Newsroom program for students and local media.