It was the middle of the 2024 season when a desperate Long Island University football program turned to Ethan Greenwood. He never gave it a reason to look back.

Entering that season, coach Ron Cooper felt good about the team's prospects. The Sharks had capable players and had practiced well. They were coming off a 2023 season where they'd finished in a second-place tie in the Northeast Conference. But at the midpoint of a 12-game schedule, the record was 0-6.

LIU needed a sparkplug and there's no better place to get one than the guy with the keys to the car. And so he installed Greenwood as the team's new starting quarterback, hoping that a running signal-caller who gave them a more untraditional look might have an answer.

The kid from Baldwin had one that could not be refuted. The Sharks turned the tide on their season and closed it by winning four of their final six games. Greenwood will again be the starter and the Sharks will be looking to ride the wave of momentum from last season into this one, which begins Aug. 30 against 15th-ranked Florida in Gainesville.

Asked if the FCS Sharks are biting off a lot with a matchup against an FBS team like the Gators, Cooper replied, "That's way more than just a bite."

Greenwood is a transfer from The Citadel who'd played high school ball at Kellenberg. He felt ready to step into the starters' role, he said, "because I felt prepared. I'd done the film study. I'd practiced for it. I was ecstatic to get to lead the team."

"He adds a little bit to our attack because he's a dual threat - he can run it and he can pass it," Cooper said. "And he definitely has leadership (skills) . . . First you watch how he works out, the way he pays attention in meetings, the way he carries himself. And then you look at his play on the field. It's total leadership."

For the entire season, Greenwood completed 52% of his passes for 931 and six touchdowns and rushed for 913 yards and five scores. Four of his passing touchdowns and all five of his rushing scores came after his move to the starting lineup.

Cooper said that after Greenwood helped the Sharks to their first win, against Stonehill, the team he'd expected started to show through.

"When you start off 0-6, it can be hard to get a win for the rest of the year," he said. "The big positive is that our guys never quit on the season. They kept playing and when you can go on a run at the end of your season, you know the culture around your team is good."

"The team needed a different type of playmaker," Greenwood said. "I guess what people saw was that when I was out there, plays were made. The team just needed something different at that point and I just happened to be that guy."

LIU will have a largely reconstructed offensive line for him to work behind this season, however Greenwood expressed confidence that it will deliver because "they're doing everything they're asked to do."

The Sharks have the makings of a dangerous pass rush on the defensive line. On one side, they have preseason all-conference selection DQ Watkins, who had 5.5 sacks last season despite often being asked to play out of position and drop back into pass coverage. On the other there is Scoop Gardner Jr., a 270-pound sophomore from Philadelphia that is seen by Cooper as a potential force.

"DQ is going to be a run-stopper and pass rusher with 6-4 size and athleticism," Cooper said. "Scoop is just so disruptive to an offense."

"We have high expectations to get after the quarterback - we have good defensive backs, but this D-line wants to be stingy," Watkins said. "Scoop is wild with all kinds of rushes he can throw at you. We're going to cause some havoc."

Cooper's outlook for Greenwood's season is optimistic and he envisions this season with the Sharks to be a major stepping stone for him. It has a bit of a sad ring to it, but it is a reality of college sports in this day and age.

"Hopefully he has a great year and if he has a great year - which I think he'll do - then we'll probably be talking about another starter (at quarterback) next year because somebody will take him," said Cooper, referring to how many FCS programs have almost become a minor league for the well-financed FBS programs that can offer players sizeable NIL dollars.

"I'm actually all-in on that," Cooper said of potentially losing Greenwood. "Wherever he can make great things happen for himself, I want that. And with the (NCAA transfer) portal, it's the new thing in college football."