The University at Albany football team didn’t have much to celebrate in 2025, but the season did end in spectacular fashion – a 31-24 victory over Monmouth that played a huge part in the Hawks missing the playoffs.
Three teams from the Coastal Athletic Association ended up in the postseason. That included CAA champion Rhode Island, along with New Hampshire and Villanova. It marked the 18th time in 20 years the conference had at least three advancing teams.
UAlbany nearly reached the mountaintop in 2023, bowing out in the national semifinals, but the two seasons that followed saw the Great Danes fall from grace while compiling a 6-18 record.
What happened? And what is UAlbany doing to build on the excitement and momentum of last year’s season finale and get back on track?
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In early 2024, not long after UAlbany’s surge into the national spotlight, head coach Greg Gattuso was named the inaugural Walter Camp Foundation FCS Coach of the Year.
Things were trending upward for the Great Danes.
Less than a year later, following a 4-8 performance during the 2024 season, Gattuso stepped down after more than a decade with the program. He was just the second head coach in team history but left for the opportunity to work at his alma mater, Penn State.
The head coaching role at UAlbany was filled on an interim basis by Jared Ambrose, who had been the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach since 2022 and then associate head coach in 2023.
Unfortunately, Ambrose was unable to get the Great Danes back to their 2023 form, and the school announced prior to the final game of the 2025 season that a formal search for the next head coach was underway.
The squad started the campaign with three consecutive losses and finished 2-10 overall. The team was 1-7 in CAA play and tied with Bryant, one spot ahead of winless Hampton.
Despite the thrilling conclusion to the season, the school was committed to the new direction, and it took just over a month for the decision to be made.
So, who is the third full-time head coach in program history? Who will lead the Great Danes onto Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in search of their eighth conference championship (second CAA) since joining the FCS ranks in 1999?
Here are five things to know about UAlbany football, the team’s new leader and what to expect from the Great Danes in 2026:
Tom Perkovich Named New Head Coach For UAlbany Football
UAlbany football fans got an early Christmas present last year when the school announced that Tom Perkovich had been hired to lead the program in 2026.
Perkovich headed north from Pennsylvania, where he’d just wrapped up a memorable tenure at Susquehanna University.
In a decade with the River Hawks, he guided the team to an 84-25 record, four consecutive conference titles and four straight appearances in the NCAA Division III Football Championship.
Since the debut of the seven-team Landmark Conference in 2023, Susquehanna has never lost a league game. The River Hawks were 6-0 in 2023, 6-0 in 2024 and 6-0 in 2025, while going 33-6 overall.
The year prior, Susquehanna had a perfect regular season (10-0) and won the Centennial Conference championship.
Though Perkovich’s impressive run into the playoffs netted the River Hawks their first postseason wins in more than three decades, they never were able to win Division III’s ultimate prize.
They exited the playoffs in 2023 with a first-round loss to Grove City College.
In 2024, they reached the national semifinals but suffered a 66-0 loss to eventual national champion North Central College.
Last season, Susquehanna had trouble against Johns Hopkins, losing twice. The second defeat came in the Division III quarterfinals.
For more than two decades, success has followed Perkovich through his coaching career, and now the former two-sport athlete at Canisius University gets to return home to upstate New York and see if the trend continues with UAlbany and at the FCS level.
Now 45, Perkovich originally is from Tonawanda, New York, which is just over two hours from Albany.
New Faces At UAlbany In 2026
Perkovich won’t be the only new face at UAlbany for the 2026 football season.
The new calendar year and new era in Great Danes football started with the addition of 38 new players – 18 freshmen and 20 transfers, four of whom played for Perkovich at Susquehanna.
Shortly after Perkovich was in place, the school announced the hiring of Mike Wiand (offensive coordinator), Matthew Scott (defensive coordinator) and Keith Larson (special teams coordinator).
Wiand previously was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Susquehanna. Unfortunately for the future of UAlbany football, he has since decided to step down for family reasons.
Perkovich now will call the plays for the 2026 campaign, but he did promote three existing coaches prior to the team’s summer training camp to help with the countless responsibilities.
Read more about the UAlbany coaching staff here.
UAlbany Football Schedule For 2026
All Times Eastern
- Aug. 28 (Fri): 7 p.m. vs. New Hampshire*
- Sept. 3 (Thu): 7 p.m. at Buffalo
- Sept. 12 (Sat): Noon at LIU
- Sept. 19 (Sat): 3:30 p.m. vs. Monmouth*
- Sept. 26 (Sat): 3 p.m. at Princeton
- Oct. 3 (Sat): 3:30 p.m. vs. Delaware State
- Oct. 17 (Sat): 2:30 p.m. at Stony Brook*
- Oct. 24 (Sat): Noon at Rhode Island*
- Oct. 31 (Sat): Noon vs. Campbell*
- Nov. 7 (Sat): 1 p.m. at Bryant*
- Nov. 14 (Sat): Noon vs. Maine*
- Nov. 21 (Sat): Noon at North Carolina A&T*
*CAA games
How Did The Great Danes Perform Overall In 2025?
A team’s record only tells part of the story, and while a 2-10 performance might be disappointing for the players and fans, the Great Danes still some things to be excited about in 2025.
First, as mentioned above, the campaign ended with a thrilling 31-24 win over Monmouth.
Individually, the team saw five players receive recognition from the CAA, though only one will be back in action for the Great Danes in 2026.
The lone All-CAA first-team selection, defensive lineman Balansama Kamara, has since transferred to play for Pro Football Hall of Fame member Deion Sanders at the University of Colorado.
2025 CAA Award Winners From UAlbany
- Balansama Kamara, DL – First Team
- Carter Moses, TE – Second Team
- Chris Gales, SPEC – Second Team
- Steven Mahar Jr., FB/HB – Honorable Mention
- *Dillon Dunathan, LB – Honorable Mention
*On 2026 roster
The Great Danes also excelled in the classroom, with 58 football players making the Commissioner’s Academic Honor for the 2025 fall semester. When the list came out after the spring semester, it included 45 members of the football team.
2025 UAlbany Football Results
- Aug. 30 (Sat): Iowa 34, Albany 7 (L)
- Sept. 6 (Sat): Delaware State 37, Albany 32 (L)
- Sept. 13 (Sat): New Haven 24, Albany 17 (L)
- Sept. 20 (Sat): Albany 13, Cornell 10 (W)
- Sept. 27 (Sat): New Hampshire 24, Albany 6 (L)
- Oct. 4 (Sat): Stony Brook 47, Albany 12 (L)
- Oct. 18 (Sat): Rhode Island 58, Albany 17 (L)
- Oct. 25 (Sat): Villanova 29, Albany 16 (L)
- Nov. 1 (Sat): William & Mary 37, Albany 7 (L)
- Nov. 8 (Sat): Bryant 27, Albany 24 (L)
- Nov. 15 (Sat): Towson 36, Albany 19 (L)
- Nov. 22 (Sat): Albany 31, Monmouth 24 (W)
A Look At The CAA And UAlbany Football In 2026
Obviously, due to recent performance, the strength of the CAA and the uncertainties surrounding a new head coach and his leap from Division III to Division I FCS competition, the UAlbany Great Danes will have to prove themselves before anyone can truly gauge where they stand.
That said, UAlbany was picked to finished 11th this year in the 13-team CAA in the conference’s 2026 preseason coaches’ poll, while Dunathan received a preseason All-CAA honorable mention.
Dunathan, now 6-foot-1, 231-pound junior linebacker, led the Great Danes in 2025 with 71 total tackles.
Predicted Order Of Finish For CAA Teams In 2026
- Rhode Island (12 first-place votes), 144
- Monmouth, 119
- Elon, 115
- New Hampshire, 106
- Stony Brook (1 first-place vote), 105
- Towson, 93
- Maine, 88
- Campbell, 56
- Bryant, 50
- Sacred Heart, 49
- UAlbany, 35
- North Carolina A&T, 28
- Hampton, 26
*Villanova and William & Mary left the CAA for the Patriot League, and Sacred Heart joins the CAA for the 2026 season.
Order Of Finish For CAA Teams In 2025
CAA (Overall)
- Rhode Island: 8-0 (11-3)
- Villanova: 7-1 (12-3)
- New Hampshire: 6-2 (8-5)
- Monmouth: 6-2 (9-3)
- William & Mary: 6-2 (7-5)
- Maine: 5-3 (6-6)
- Elon: 4-4 (6-6)
- Stony Brook: 4-4 (6-6)
- Towson: 4-4 (6-6)
- Campbell: 2-6 (2-10)
- North Carolina A&T: 2-6 (2-10)
- Bryant: 1-7 (3-9)
- UAlbany: 1-7 (2-10)
- Hampton: 0-8 (2-10)
Final AFCA Division I FCS Coaches Poll For 2025 Season
- Montana St. (14-2)
- Illinois St. (12-5)
- Montana (13-2)
- Villanova (12-3)
- North Dakota St. (12-1)
- Tarleton St. (12-2)
- Stephen F. Austin (11-3)
- UC Davis (9-4)
- Lehigh (12-1)
- Rhode Island (11-3)
- South Dakota (10-5)
- ACU (9-5)
- Yale (9-3)
- South Dakota St. (9-5)
- Tennessee Tech (11-2)
- North Dakota (8-6)
- Youngstown St. (8-5)
- Mercer (9-3)
- Southeastern Louisiana (9-4)
- Monmouth (N.J.) (9-3)
- Lamar (8-5)
- Jackson St. (9-3)
- Harvard (9-2)
- West Georgia (8-3)
- South Carolina St. (10-3)
Dropped Out: Southern Illinois (25)
Others Receiving Votes: New Hampshire, 35; Lafayette, 30; Southern Illinois, 29; Drake, 20; UT Rio Grande Valley, 20; Prairie View A&M, 16; Central Connecticut St., 15; Richmond, 15; Alabama St., 10; Presbyterian, 10; Southern Utah, 5; Austin Peay, 2.
Some Things To Know About FCS Football
The FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) is the second tier of NCAA Division I football, with the top tier being the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision).
While the FBS determines its national champion through a 12-team, committee-selected College Football Playoff, the FCS Championship includes 24 teams.
The FCS conference champions automatically qualify for the playoffs, and the remaining spots are filled via at-large selection.
This season, there will be 128 programs across 13 conferences. The regular season will begin in late August, and the playoffs will get underway at the end of November.
Who Won The Each Football National Championship For The 2025-2026 Season?
- Division I FBS – Indiana def. Miami, 27-21
- Division I FCS – Montana State def. Illinois State 35-34 (OT)
- Division II – Ferris State def. Harding, 42-21
- Division III – University of Wisconsin-River Falls def. North Central (Ill.), 24-14
When Do The 2026 NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs Start?
The first round of the 2026 NCAA FCS Playoffs will be Nov. 28.
The format includes 24 teams and five rounds of play – first round, second round, quarterfinals, semifinals and the championship game. Everything through the semifinals will be played at the site of the participating schools.
Round 2 is set for Dec. 5, the quarterfinals will be held Dec. 11 (one game) and Dec. 12 (three games) and the semifinals will take place Dec. 19.
The 2026 FCS national championship will be determined Jan. 11, 2027, at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Music City first hosted the title tilt in 2025 after 15 consecutive visits to Frisco, Texas.
Every game will be broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks.
How Do The FCS Playoffs Work?
The 24 FCS teams that advance to the playoffs are situated into a single-elimination bracket.
The top 16 teams are seeded, with the first eight earning byes into the second round. Seeds 9-16 must play in the opening round of action, but they get to play host, as do the higher seeds in each game through the semifinals.
The two semifinal winners then make the trip to Nashville to play for the national championship.
In 2025, Montana State defeated Illinois State 35-34 in overtime to claim the trophy.
Since 2011, North Dakota State had been dominating the FCS landscape, winning 10 national titles, but the Bison have now moved to a bigger pasture – the FBS level as part of the Mountain West Conference.
Cornell vs. UAlbany Football Highlights | 2025 CAA Football
The UAlbany football team won two games in 2025. The first was a 13-10 victory against Cornell on Sept. 20.
Watch the highlights now:
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