The Colonial Athletic Association, the NCAA athletic conference in which Stony Brook Football is a member, hired Brian Gordon as its associate commissioner for football.

The hiring, announced Tuesday morning, was conducted by CAA Commissioner Joe D’Antonio, who became commissioner on July 1. D’Antonio created the new position of associate commissioner as the conference looks to emulate the prestigious Football Bowl Subdivision and promote growth.

Gordon joins the CAA after 11 seasons as the director of football operations and equipment services at North Dakota State. With Gordon at the helm, the Bisons reached heights never previously attained by a Football Championship Subdivision school.

North Dakota State has won five consecutive national championships in the FCS and currently has a record five-game winning streak against FBS opponents. Its former quarterback, Carson Wentz, was selected No. 2 overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2016 NFL Draft.

“I look forward to working with the CAA staff and its membership,” Gordon said in a news release. “It was a difficult decision to leave NDSU and my extended Bison family after 11 years. North Dakota State and its community will always have a special place in my heart of myself and my family. The CAA institutions are national leaders academically and athletically and I am excited to join its family.”

Gordon will manage the day-to-day conference football operations, acting as a liaison to the conference’s athletics directors and head coaches, including Stony Brook’s Shawn Heilbron and Chuck Priore. Gordon will be the coordinator of CAA football’s long-term planning and future aspirations as a conference.

Stony Brook is a football-only member of the CAA, participating as a full-time member in the America East.

The Seawolves will begin CAA conference play at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 17, when they host the No. 2 Richmond Spiders at 12 p.m.