Long Island University Sharks 2026 Season Preview

Cooper's Balancing Act

Ron Cooper's group split the difference in 2025, going 6-6 overall but a sturdier 4-3 in NEC play, evidence this team competes well against the leagues it actually needs to beat. The No. 79 power rating is the number that tempers any optimism, a reminder that the raw talent gap still shows up against tougher non-conference dates. Long Island's path in 2026 is straightforward: keep winning the conference games and let that record carry the season, because the overall metrics are not going to do it any favors.

Ground and Pound, Barely

LIU's identity is a defense that held opponents to 295 yards a game and a ground attack that churned out 170 rushing yards a game, while the passing game sagged at 124 yards and 121st nationally. That imbalance falls on Luca Stanzani, the returning and projected 2026 starter after throwing for 562 yards with 3 touchdowns against 3 interceptions last fall. If Ron Cooper's defense holds its ground again, this team wins close, low-scoring games the same way it did in 2025, but Stanzani has to turn that anemic passing rate into something closer to complementary rather than an afterthought.

Luca Stanzani took the bulk of the snaps in a passing game that finished 121st in the country, throwing for 562 yards with as many interceptions as touchdowns, and he heads into camp as the front-runner to keep the job rather than a settled incumbent. Ethan Greenwood pushed him for reps last year and posted nearly identical numbers, 645 yards and the same 3-3 touchdown-to-interception split, so Ron Cooper has two options with real game tape and little separation between them. LIU can live with turnover margin at quarterback because the run game carried the offense at 170 yards per game, but Stanzani or Greenwood has to find more explosive plays than the 1.17 mark this unit managed to make the passing attack more than a formality.

O'Shawn Ross Jr. carried this ground game last fall, piling up 852 yards and giving LIU a rushing attack that ranked 37th nationally even while the rest of the offense stalled at 124 passing yards per game. That split tells the story for 2026: Ross is the engine, and Ron Cooper's staff needs the passing game to catch up so defenses cannot just load up to stop him. Behind Ross, Mekhi Norfleet managed only 58 yards on the ground, so the departures of Kam Ingram and Jordan Kinsler leave this as Ross's backfield to carry, with Giancarlo Olveda, Kenyon Slaughter-Keen and Tyselle Spencer unproven complements rather than proven threats.

Cory Nichols (16 catches, 151 yards) and Evan Brooks (15 catches, 145 yards) return as the top holdovers in a passing game that ranked 121st in yards per game and produced the league's least explosive attack at 114th nationally in explosiveness. Neither back matched departed target Deion Richardson's 27 catches and 339 yards, so Ron Cooper needs one of Ridge Christlieb, Jelani Fedrick, Daniel Hernandez or Ryan Kelley to emerge as a real vertical threat behind Nichols and Brooks. Until that happens, LIU's 170 rushing yards per game figure to carry the offense again while the passing game tries to find any big-play juice.

Jaron Kelley's 12 catches for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns were modest, but in a passing attack that ranked 121st in the country in yards per game, that production made him one of the few reliable options LIU had. His return matters more than the raw numbers suggest, since departed tight end Jaiden Dozier's 14 catches for 144 yards leave a real gap for a passing game that already struggled to stay on schedule (89th in success rate) and rarely hit explosive plays (114th). Nicholas Colella and Tristin McFarland come back without a statistical track record, so Kelley is the proven piece Ron Cooper leans on to try to squeeze more out of a passing attack that has to carry more weight if this offense wants to look different than the 16.4 points per game it managed in 2025.

The ground game actually worked last season, 170 yards per game on the ground good for 37th nationally, while the passing attack sank to 121st and the offense as a whole stalled at 4.88 yards per play. That split tells the story up front: LIU could get movement in the run game but couldn't protect long enough to throw, and now Ron Cooper has to replace the interior of that group with center Grayson Lewis and guard Donnie Hardin both gone. Whether the rushing success carries over hinges less on new pieces than on whether the remaining front can keep the passing game from bottoming out again.

The line that held opponents to 4.62 yards per play (6th) and just 133 rushing yards a game last fall now loses its entire production sheet, with Breon Askins, DQ Watkins, Ja'Nyus Morgan and Franklin Smith all gone off the edge and Keondre Hodges off the interior. None of last season's tackles or the lone TFL charted return on paper, which means Ron Cooper is asking an experienced front to replace numbers with unproven hands rather than fix a broken unit. The bar is high precisely because LIU's defense finished top ten nationally in yards allowed, so even a modest step back up front could unravel a secondary that thrived behind it.

Long Island's defense allowed just 162 passing yards a game and 4.62 yards per play last fall, numbers that made the front seven's job easier, but the linebacker room now has to replace Rafael Fasolino, who had 17 tackles and 4 TFL, and David Swartzenruber. That production gap sits awkwardly against a defense that ranked 31st in rushing yards allowed, the softest spot in an otherwise stout unit, meaning whoever settles in at linebacker inherits the group most responsible for tightening the run fits. Ron Cooper's staff built its identity on limiting explosive plays through the air; keeping that identity intact means the linebackers have to be better against the run than the 133 yards allowed a game LIU gave up in 2025.

This secondary was the identity of Ron Cooper's defense last fall, holding opponents to 162 yards passing per game, fifth nationally, while the whole unit limited teams to 4.62 yards per play. That production leaves with six defensive backs gone, including Chase Davis and Omari Lewis, the two most active tacklers in the group. An experienced secondary remains to anchor things, but replicating a top-five pass defense without its top tacklers is the real test facing Cooper's group in 2026.

Will Johnson made just 7 of 11 field goals last year, and LIU now needs him to carry the job without Fred Callo in the mix, though Spencer Jones, Lance Maiberg and Jonathan Villacis all return as options if Johnson's accuracy does not improve. The bigger hole is at punter, where Will Lynch and his 41.3-yard average are gone with no returning punter on the card. Long snapper Jake Campisi is back, but with no statistical track record, this is a unit defined by unproven or unreliable numbers across the board.

Luca Stanzani at Quarterback

LIU's season swings on which quarterback wins the job, and the numbers point to Luca Stanzani, projected to start after throwing for 562 yards and 3 touchdowns against 3 interceptions last year. He still has to hold off Ethan Greenwood, who posted a near-identical 645 yards and 3 touchdowns of his own, but Stanzani gets a real weapon in O'Shawn Ross Jr., who ran for 852 yards and can keep the offense off his shoulders while Deion Richardson's 339 receiving yards get replaced.

Ron Cooper's Road Cover Drought

The split here is stark: LIU covered 60% at home but just 29% on the road, a gap that outweighs the flat 6-6 finish. Backing Ron Cooper's team at home made money even in losing seasons, evidenced by a 4-1 straight-up mark and 3-2 against the spread there, while road trips produced a 2-5 mark both ways. Until that disparity narrows, the smart 2026 play is simple: ride LIU at home, avoid them away from it.