Stony Brook’s Billy Cosh named Walter Camp’s 2024 FCS Coach of the Year
Stony Brook first-year head coach Billy Cosh has been selected as Walter Camp’s 2024 Football Championship Subdivision Coach of the Year.
This is the second year the Walter Camp Foundation has given this award – University at Albany’s Greg Gattuso earned the honor in 2023.
After inheriting a team that endured a winless 2023 campaign, Cosh led the Seawolves to their best season since 2017.
At just 32 years old, Cosh is the second-youngest coach in Division I football and has revitalized a program that was projected to finish last in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Preseason Coaches Poll. Under his leadership, Stony Brook achieved an impressive 8-4 overall record (5-3 CAA), marking their first winning season since 2018 and their highest national ranking in six years.
Cosh’s eight victories also place him among the top-performing first-year head coaches in FCS history, and he is now the fastest head coach in program history to reach this milestone.
Stony Brook’s offensive and defensive statistics saw dramatic improvements under Cosh. On offense, the Seawolves improved their scoring average from 15.2 points per game in 2023 to 29.6 points per game in 2024. Defensively, the Seawolves allowed just 24.0 points per game this season, compared to 39.2 points per game in 2023
Cosh’s guidance has elevated several players to national recognition. Running back Roland Dempster became only the second player in program history to be nominated for the Walter Payton Award and earned First Team All-CAA honors. Defensive lineman Rushawn Lawrence also secured First Team All-CAA recognition. Tight end Cal Redman, kicker Enda Kirby, and cornerback Rudy Silvera were named to the Second Team All-CAA, while offensive linemen Niko Papic and AJ Roberts earned spots on the All-CAA Third Team.
Cosh was named the third head coach in Stony Brook football’s Division I era on December 13, 2023.
He started his coaching career at Concord University (Md.) as an offensive graduate assistant and quarterbacks coach. Later, he served as a graduate assistant at Indiana. Prior to being hired at Stony Brook, Cosh coached at Western Michigan (offensive coordinator), Richmond (offensive coordinator) and Virginia Military Institute (offensive coordinator/wide receivers).
A native of Gambrills, Md., Cosh played five seasons of college football as a quarterback, playing at Houston (2013-14), Butler Community College (2012), James Madison (2011) and Kansas State (2010). He led Butler C.C. to the 2012 NJCCA National Championship, throwing for 2,856 yards and 25 touchdowns that season. He graduated with a degree in sociology from Houston in 2015.
Cosh and his wife Kelsey have a daughter, Charli.
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. Visit www.waltercamp.org for more information.
