A month after removing former head coach Chuck Priore from his position, the Stony Brook football team has found his replacement.

On Tuesday evening, ESPN reporter Pete Thamel posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Stony Brook University will hire former Western Michigan University (WMU) offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Billy Cosh as the school’s new head football coach. The 31-year-old from Arundel, Md. will now become the third head coach in program history.

Cosh served one year as WMU’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and the team finished 4-8. This past season, the Broncos’ offense ranked third in the Mid-American Conference in total offense (365 yards per game) and fifth in scoring offense (23.7 points per game).

Sources: Stony Brook is expected to hire Western Michigan offensive coordinator Billy Cosh as the school’s next head coach. He has four seasons as an FCS coordinator, including strong stints at Richmond and VMI.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 12, 2023

Cosh took over as Virginia Military Institute’s (VMI) wide receivers coach in 2018 and held the position for two seasons. Afterwards, he spent the next two years as VMI’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In the 2020-21 season, Cosh’s offense carried VMI to its first-ever NCAA playoff appearance and its first conference championship since 1977.

After his time with the Keydets, Cosh was hired by the University of Richmond to be its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the 2022 season. In just one year of work, Cosh’s play-calling led Richmond to a 9-4 record and averages of 31.3 points and 424.1 scrimmage yards per game.

One of Cosh’s most notable achievements as an assistant coach was aiding in the development of current Montreal Alouettes quarterback Reece Udinski, who was one of the better quarterbacks in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) from 2018 to 2022. The two worked together at VMI from 2018 through the 2020-21 season, with Cosh serving as Udinski’s position coach and offensive coordinator in their final year there with one another. Udinski transferred to the University of Maryland in the summer of 2021, leaving VMI as the program’s all-time leading passer.

The two reunited in 2022 after Cosh was hired by Richmond, encouraging Udinski to transfer in and join him. Udinski enjoyed a career year under Cosh, throwing for 3,612 yards, 29 touchdowns and only five interceptions on a 73.3% completion rate. In two years with Cosh as his offensive coordinator — with two different teams — Udinski completed 73.1% of his passes, averaged 276.5 yards per game and tossed 36 touchdowns to just seven interceptions.

In his four years as an offensive coordinator for three different schools, Cosh’s offenses averaged 28.8 points and 407.3 total yards per game. He likes to throw the ball, as his squads have averaged 261.7 passing yards per game and posted a 79:33 touchdown/interception ratio. In three years as an FCS offensive coordinator, Cosh’s teams averaged 30.8 points and 423.2 scrimmage yards per game. His passing offenses were even better in the FCS, with an average of 280.7 yards per game and a 66:24 touchdown/interception ratio.

Cosh’s air raid offenses stem from his days as a quarterback, although he did not play much college football in his career. In his freshman year of 2010, he redshirted with Kansas State University before transferring to James Madison University to do the same thing in 2011.

After not playing with either of his first two teams, Cosh transferred to Butler Community College and led the program to the 2012 NJCAA Championship Game, where it lost 27-7 to Iowa Western Community College. In 2013, he transferred to the University of Houston, where he was strictly a backup again for the next two years. He made his NCAA debut in 2014 with Houston, throwing nine passes and completing five of them for 32 yards.

Stony Brook Athletics will make an announcement tomorrow morning to officially share information about Cosh’s hiring.