Jul 247 min read

Top Teams Speak on Day 1 of 2024 CAA Media Days

The first day of the Coastal Athletic Association Media Days wrapped up on July 24, with Albany, Bryant, Maine, Monmouth, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Stony Brook and Villanova taking part in the first portion of the event. The full event can be found here.

CAA Focusing on Future

The festivities kicked off with Commissioner Joe D'Antonio speaking about the conference as a whole. He opened his statement by focusing on the athletic, as well as academic successes of the student-athletes in the CAA and their commitment to leadership. Following his opening statement D'Antonio focused on the newest addition to the conference, the Bryant Bulldogs, who move into the conference from the Big South Conference.

"The addition of Bryant was really no different than any of our other expansion initiatives, in which we were continuing to look for institutions that were a geographic fit, were committed academically at their institution to the betterment of not only their student-athletes, but their student body as a whole," D'Antonio said.

When asked about the future of the conference, with Richmond and Delaware both leaving the conference following this season, D'Antonio said he felt the conference would be fine even with the departures.

"We'll be down to 14 schools," D'Antonio said. "Still feels as though we have not only a very viable football conference, but if you look at all of our teams, top to bottom, maybe if not the best FCS football conference in the country, and we're gonna continue to make moves, both internally and externally, to continue to position ourselves in exactly that light as the best FCS conference top to bottom in FCS football."

D'Antonio left the door open about the possibility of the conference re-expanding to 16 teams.

"Those questions about membership are things that we are constantly evaluating," D'Antonio said. "While it's the same answer I give all the time, it's not really a canned answer, it's really a true answer. We're gonna continue to evaluate the membership landscape like we do every day, and make decisions that are in the best interest of the CAA conference going forward as it relates to membership. The one thing I can tell you is there is an awful lot of interest nationally in the CAA. I feel very good about where our membership stands right now, but that doesn't mean we're not constantly evaluating things and understanding what's gonna be best for our conference moving forward."

Albany Coach Greg Gattuso

Coming off of a season in which the Great Danes made it to the national semi-finals, the reigning CAA Champions are focused on taking the next step to win a national championship. They plan to use the confidence they built from last season to continue their rise, but know that they still need to improve to get to the top of the FCS mountain.

"The most important thing is defending the CAA Championship for us," Gattuso said. "If we can put ourselves in the hunt and get in the battle for the championship it should be a good year for us. You get in the playoffs, there's a lot of intangibles that go on, but most importantly we need to have the success to have a chance to win this conference again."

Albany opens up the season by hosting Long Island 7 p.m. EST on Aug. 31.

Bryant Coach Chris Merritt

With this being the first season for the Bulldogs in the CAA, Merritt focused on having to relearn a new conference for the fourth time in as many seasons, moving from the Northeast Conference to the Big South, then to the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Alliance, before finally landing in the CAA.

"It's been an interesting journey over the last four years," Merritt said. "Introducing myself to the other teams head coach before the coin toss."

Merritt said he is not worrying about who the opponents in the conference are.

"It doesn't matter who we play," Merritt said. "We're just gonna prepare to win and be successful. That's our motto."

Merritt praised the CAA, reiterating what Commissioner D'Antonio stated regarding this being the best conference in FCS.

"The CAA is, from top to bottom, I think the top conference in FCS football," Merritt said. "I've known that for years. When you look at the representation in the playoff field as well as it seems like every other week you're gonna play a team that has one of those little [top 25] numbers next to their name on the schedule."

For fans of the CAA who are unfamiliar with the Bulldogs a rundown of their history can be found here.

Bryant opens up their first season in the CAA by being thrown right into the fire in a conference matchup, traveling to Delaware to face the Blue Hens at 7 p.m. on Aug. 29.

Maine Coach Jordan Stevens

Black Bears coach Stevens focused on balance when it came to his strategy and identity of the team for the upcoming season.

"We know that we need to be more balanced on offense," Stevens said. "We need to have a run game that can be sustainable throughout the season, so I think you're gonna see a committed approach to running the football and being balanced and knowing that that's gonna put us in a position to win games."

Maine opens the season hosting Colgate on at 7 p.m. on Aug. 30.

Monmouth Coach Kevin Callahan

Hawks coach Callahan focused on growth in their third season in the CAA, as they look to improve on an under .500 season last year.

"The first year in the conference two years ago was a learning experience," Callahan said. "We had to learn as a staff and we had to learn as a team what it's like to compete in a conference that's as power as the CAA. I think we grew some in that first year. Last year we were a little bit closer, but we're still not where we want to be yet, and I think this is the season where we can hit our stride."

Comparing their time in the Big South to the beginning of their time in the CAA, Callahan was hopeful for the future in the conference.

"The first couple of years [in the CAA] are very similar to our first couple of years in the Big South," Callahan said. "There's a transition that needs to take place as you get used to the opponents that you're playing, and as you get used to the level of competition that you're gonna face week in and week out. I think we successfully did that in the Big South, whereas in the last five years in the conference we played for the conference championship each and every one of those five years. Now we roll back to the first couple of years in the CAA, and it's a learning experience, and you have to learn and come out and play each and every week."

Monmouth travels cross-country to start the new season, facing Eastern Washington on the road on Aug. 29. No time has been announced for the start of that game as of yet.

New Hampshire Coach Rick Santos

After a 6-5 season, New Hampshire's coach is focused on improving on that this season, putting last year squarely behind them.

"Our goal is to always compete and to win CAA championships and we understand more than ever how tough that is," Santos said. "There's so much parity in this conference top to bottom. Every single week you have to put your best brand of football on tape if you want an opportunity to win."

New Hampshire travels to UCF to face the Knights to open the 2024 campaign at 7 p.m. EST on Aug. 29.

Rhode Island Coach Jim Fleming

After going 6-5 last season, Fleming focused on continued growth to improve upon what they did last season and finally making the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

"We finished with six [wins] last year and we're disappointed with it," Fleming said. "That wasn't the case ten years ago. It's something thrilling to get a six-win season, but that really is something that fell two games short of our expectations and our goals. The focus of the football program has been 'how do we get two games better.' As we go into this next season the answer is always the same thing—get a group of guys that have a common belief and a common focus. work their tails off on a day-to-day basis, have a short-term focus, and just stack days, one day at a time."

Rhode Island hosts Holy Cross to open the season at 7 p.m. EST on Aug. 31.

Stony Brook Coach Billy Cosh

In his first season as the coach of the Sea Wolves, Cosh has been focusing on toughening up the program as he looks to rebuild it from the ground up.

"The first thing we did when we got here was, we had to get tougher," Cosh said. "I think that's the one thing you have to do in this game, is mental and physical toughness. We have to preach those things, the details of doing things correctly on and off the field. That's the first thing we really tried to address here, and I met with every player when I got the job, and asked them 'how do we improve?' They all wanted accountability and detail. Our coaches have done a great job of preaching that."

Stony Brook travels to West Virginia to face Marshall at 5 p.m. EST on Aug. 31 to start the season.

Villanova Coach Mark Ferrante

The preseason favorites to win the conference, the Wildcats look to live up to expectations and win the conference championship once again, last winning it in 2021. When asked about the poll, Ferrante said he was honored, but knew they had to put in the work now to prove the pollsters right.

"We feel honored to be selected as the preseason favorite," Ferrante said. "Obviously that's a great compliment for our team, our program and our university. My message to the team hasn't changed. Let's take them one game at a time, one day at a time, let's get better through summer training, offseason trainings, spring practice and now as we head into preseason. Let's continue that mindset where we take it one rep at a time, one day at a time, and untimately one game at a time."

Villanova hosts Youngstown State to open the 2024 season on at 6 p.m. EST on Aug. 29.