Shaun Williams knows what people are saying about Pioneers football. Fans shouted at the coach from the stands about running the same unsuccessful playbook game after game. On social media, students called the team a “disgrace” and “wack.”

By the end of a brutal 1-9 season, William Paterson was ranked last in the NJAC in points per game and first in points allowed.

But Williams hasn’t lost faith.

“I believe in this program and what we’re building and how we’re going about things,” Williams told the Beacon on Nov. 5, a few days after a 45-7 loss to Christopher Newport University. “They [the players] understand the injury situation. You know, they understand that we are young, and they’re optimistic about the future.”

There hasn’t been much to be optimistic about so far during Williams’s tenure. A former NFL player for nine seasons, including eight with the Giants, Williams just finished his third season as Pioneers head coach, a stretch when the Pioneers have gone 8-22, a winning percentage of just .266. He’s been with the Pioneers for 15 years, joining as an assistant coach in 2009 and earning a promotion to defensive coordinator in 2013. He has been dual defensive coordinator and head coach since the spring of 2022.

Several factors made 2024 the most miserable since Williams took the reins. Last spring, Williams lost the only offensive coordinator that he had ever coached with at William Paterson, Tim Sternfield, who left for a job at Claremont College in California. His replacement, Brian Capriola, was not announced until July, giving him less time to connect with his players.

“We didn’t get an OC until the start of the summer, so they were trying to install plays while practicing for the upcoming opponent,” said linebacker Samod Wingo. “So, it’s a lot of things that didn’t get to click like they should have over the springtime.”

The Pioneers slumped through the 2024 season with an anemic offense. Starting quarterback Connor Katz, a graduate student transfer from Georgetown, was injured less than halfway through the season. Then backup quarterback Nigel Jennings, who had been named NJAC offensive rookie of the week, went down, too.

The loss of their first- and second-string quarterbacks led Williams to resort to a running game that opposing defenses found easy to predict and contain. The Pioneers averaged just 67 rushing and 135 passing yards per game and converted only 18 percent on third down compared to their opponents’ 42 percent.

On defense, Wingo, a team leader who set the university record for tackles for loss this season, was injured early in an Oct. 5 game against Kean and missed the next two weeks.

With Katz, Jennings, and Wingo out, and less experienced players taking their places, the Pioneers were crushed 63-0 in an embarrassing home loss to Salisbury, an undefeated team on its way to a national ranking as the seventh-best team in Division III football.

“We had a lack of experience just because we have a lot of new players, young guys,” junior defensive back James Nevels said. Later, he added, “It’s been a lot of changes that have been going on throughout the season that kind of held us back.”

On the William Paterson campus, students were not sympathetic. On Fizz, a social media platform where students are encouraged to anonymously “connect with your community safely, authentically, and vibrantly,” they posted streams of merciless comments.

One poster suggested the university shift its financial resources to other athletic pursuits:  “At this point give some of the money used for the football team towards a track club/team. 1-9 is insane work.”

Another drew a contrast between the football team and the women’s volleyball team, which won the NJAC title last month. “Everyone congratulate our volleyball team on their championship W,” the post read. “Seems that somehow its [sic] just the football team that lacks in the W department.”

Despite the negativity, the Pioneers remain optimistic. After losing 17 seniors in 2024, including several starters, the team was forced to rely on younger players who are now primed to become team leaders. With only eight players set to graduate before 2025, many first-year starters who were freshmen or sophomores are poised to contribute significantly next season. One freshman, defensive lineman Joseph Pressley, twice won NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week.

Williams said he’s proud of his players for staying positive through adversity.

“They’re energetic,” Williams told The Beacon. “And they know we have a lot of young talent on the team. And I think that’s what helps motivate and keep those guys locked in, is that they truly believe that the future of the program is bright.”

Just days after the Pioneers closed the season with a 45-0 loss to Rowan on Nov. 16, Williams said the coaching staff began preparing for 2025. Players have been working out in the new weight room.

Nevels asked fans to be patient with the Pioneers.

“Stick with us,” he said. “It’s gonna be a lot of ups and downs. Don’t give up on us. We’re still putting pieces together. I think we have a chance to be one of the best teams in the conference.”

Wingo, who is graduating, said the new weight room should help the team put on at least 500 pounds of muscle collectively.

“Next year, I see the sky being the limit,” Wingo said. “I don’t think they should lose to anybody, as long as they buy into the weight room, start lifting like they should, and they get another season under Coach Capriola.”