List of William & Mary Tribe head football coaches

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Lou Holtz (1969–1971) coached William & Mary to the 1970 Tangerine Bowl
Mike London during his tenure as head coach for Virginia (2010–2015)

The William & Mary Tribe football program has represented the College of William & Mary in intercollegiate college football competition since 1893. The team has competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I since its formation in 1973. From 1956 to 1972 William & Mary competed in the NCAA University Division. William & Mary fielded its first intercollegiate football team during the 1893 season.[1] Between 1896 and 1908 the team's nickname was "Orange and White," derived from the school's former colors (William & Mary now uses green and gold). Since white uniforms dirtied too quickly, they became known as the "Orange and Black" from 1910 through 1916. Between 1917 and 1977 they were known as the Indians, and throughout this period a man dressing up as a Native American would ride around on a pony along the sidelines during games. This practice was discontinued when the outcry of stereotyping Native Americans as well as the use of a live animal became controversial. Since the 1978 season William & Mary has adopted the nickname "Tribe."[2]

Through the 2023 season, there have been 31 different head coaches in school history.[3] Among them, three have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Bill Fincher (1974),[4] Bill Ingram (1973),[5] and Lou Holtz (2008).[6] Another coach—Marv Levy—was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.[7] The all-time winningest coach in terms of total wins is Jimmye Laycock.[3] Over a 39-year tenure (1980–2018) he amassed 249 wins, which is over five times more than the next closest head coach, Rube McCray, who had 45.[3] The coach with the highest win percentage is Carl M. Voyles: he amassed a 78.2 winning percentage between 1939 and 1942, going 29–7–3 overall.[8]

Despite having over 500 wins in its history, William & Mary football has never won a national championship. The Tribe have been to the FCS/I-AA playoffs 10 times through 2018 but have never reached the national championship game; twice they have reached the semi-finals. William & Mary has won bowl games, however. They defeated Oklahoma A&M in the 1949 Delta Bowl, 20–0, and also won two Epson Ivy Bowls in the 1990s.[9][10][11] Seven different coaches have coached the Tribe to conference titles. Thomas Dowler, in his lone season at the helm, guided William & Mary to the Virginia Conference championship in 1935.[12] Unsurprisingly, Jimmye Laycock has the most all-time titles with five, plus a divisional championship which was won in 1993.

Key[edit]

Coaches[edit]

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 season
# Name Term GC OW OL OT O% PW PL PT CCs Awards
1 John W. Wright 1894 1 0 1 0 .000 — — — — —
2 Bill Armstrong 1896 2 0 2 0 .000 — — — — —
3 W. J. King 1897–98, 1900 6 2 4 0 .333 — — — — —
4 William H. Burke 1899 5 2 3 0 .400 — — — — —
5 Harold J. Davall 1903 4 1 3 0 .250 — — — — —
6 J. Merrill Blanchard 1904–05, 1910 22 6 14 2 .318 — — — — —
7 H. W. Withers 1906 8 2 6 0 .250 — — — — —
8 James E. Barry 1907 9 6 3 0 .667 — — — — —
9 George E. O'Hearn 1908–09 21 10 10 1 .500 — — — — —
10 William J. Young 1911–12 15 1 12 2 .133 — — — — —
11 Dexter W. Draper 1913–15 24 1 21 2 .083 — — — — —
12 Samuel H. Hubbard 1916 9 2 5 2 .333 — — — — —
13 Harry Young 1917 8 3 5 0 .375 — — — — —
14 Vernon Geddy 1918 2 0 2 0 .000 — — — — —
15 James G. Driver 1919–20 18 6 11 1 .361 — — — — —
16 Bill Fincher† 1921 8 4 3 1 .563 — — — — —
17 Bill Ingram† 1922 9 6 3 0 .667 — — — — —
18 J. Wilder Tasker 1923–27 49 30 17 2 .633 — — — — —
19 Branch Bocock 1928–30, 1936–38 59 29 27 3 .517 — — — — —
20 John Kellison 1931–34 40 21 17 2 .550 — — — 2 —
21 Thomas Dowler 1935 10 3 4 3 .450 — — — 1 —
22 Carl M. Voyles 1939–42 39 29 7 3 .782 — — — 1 —
23 Rube McCray 1944–50 67 45 22 3 .664 1 1 0 1 —
24 Marvin Bass 1951 10 7 3 0 .700 — — — — —
25 Jack Freeman 1952–56 48 14 29 5 .344 — — — — —
26 Milt Drewer 1957–63 69 21 46 2 .319 — — — — —
27 Marv Levy 1964–68 50 23 25 2 .480 — — — 1 —
28 Lou Holtz† 1969–71 33 13 20 0 .394 0 1 0 1 —
29 Jim Root 1972–79 88 39 48 1 .449 — — — — —
30 Jimmye Laycock 1980–2018 445 249 194 2 .562 6[nb 5] 9 0 5 AFCA Region II Coach of the Year (1990)
AFCA Region I Coach of the Year (2010)
31 Mike London 2019–present 50 29 21 0 .590 1 1 0 1 —

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, thus, any coach who have two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
  2. ^ For the conference affiliations on a year-by-year basis, please see the list of seasons article.
  3. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[13][14]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.
  5. ^ The Epson Ivy Bowl is not recognized by the NCAA as an official game and therefore does not count towards official win–loss records. Thus, the two Epson Ivy Bowl wins would have increased Jimmye Laycock's postseason win count by two, but instead they are discounted.

References[edit]

General
  • "2011 Football Media Guide". The College of William & Mary. August 8, 2010. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
Specific
  1. ^ "William & Mary 1850–1899". History. The College of William & Mary. 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  2. ^ "A History of W&M Mascots and Nicknames". wm.edu. The College of William & Mary. 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c DeLassus, David; Noel, Tex (2012). "William & Mary Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  4. ^ "Bill Fincher". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  5. ^ "Bill Ingram". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  6. ^ "Lou Holtz". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  7. ^ "Hall of Famers – Marv Levy". Pro Football Hall of Fame. 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  8. ^ DeLassus, David; Noel, Tex (2012). "Carl M. Voyles Coaching Record". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  9. ^ DeLassus, David; Noel, Tex (2012). "William & Mary Game by Game Results: 1945–1949". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  10. ^ DeLassus, David; Noel, Tex (2012). "William & Mary Game by Game Results: 1990–1994". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  11. ^ DeLassus, David; Noel, Tex (2012). "William & Mary Game by Game Results: 1995–1999". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  12. ^ DeLassus, David; Noel, Tex (2012). "1935 Season Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  13. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  14. ^ "2009–10 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretation" (PDF). Rule 3, Article 3: Extra Periods. National Collegiate Athletic Association. May 2009. pp. FR-64 to FR-65. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 29, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
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