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List of William & Mary Tribe head football coaches

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Lou Holtz (1969–1971) coached William & Mary to the 1970 Tangerine BowlMike 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. 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."

Through the 2024 season, there have been 31 different head coaches in school history. Among them, three have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Bill Fincher (1974), Bill Ingram (1973), and Lou Holtz (2008). Another coach—Marv Levy—was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001. The all-time winningest coach in terms of total wins is Jimmye Laycock. 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. 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.

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 11 times through 2024 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. 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. Unsurprisingly, Jimmye Laycock has the most all-time titles with five, plus a divisional championship which was won in 1993.

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list
General Overall Conference Postseason
No. Order of coaches GC Games coached CW Conference wins PW Postseason wins
DC Division championships OW Overall wins CL Conference losses PL Postseason losses
CC Conference championships OL Overall losses CT Conference ties PT Postseason ties
NC National championships OT Overall ties C% Conference winning percentage
† Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame O% Overall winning percentage

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards
No. Name Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% 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 1897–1898
1900 		6 2 4 0 0.333 — — — — — — — — —
4 William H. Burke 1899 5 2 3 0 0.400 — — — — — — — — —
5 Harold J. Davall 1903 4 1 3 0 0.250 — — — — — — — — —
6 J. Merrill Blanchard 1904–1905
1910 		22 6 14 2 0.318 2 5 0 0.286 — — — 0 —
7 H. W. Withers 1906 8 2 6 0 0.250 0 2 0 .000 — — — 0 —
8 James E. Barry 1907 9 6 3 0 0.667 2 1 0 0.667 — — — 1 —
9 George E. O'Hearn 1908–1909 21 10 10 1 0.500 3 3 0 0.500 — — — 1 —
10 William J. Young 1911–1912 15 1 12 2 0.133 1 5 0 0.167 — — — 0 —
11 Dexter W. Draper 1913–1915 24 1 21 2 0.083 1 14 0 0.067 — — — 0 —
12 Samuel H. Hubbard 1916 9 2 5 2 0.333 1 5 1 0.214 — — — 0 —
13 Harry Young 1917 8 3 5 0 0.375 2 5 0 0.286 — — — 0 —
14 Vernon Geddy 1918 2 0 2 0 .000 — — — — — — — — —
15 James G. Driver 1919–1920 18 6 11 1 0.361 1 7 0 0.125 — — — 0 —
16 Bill Fincher 1921 8 4 3 1 0.563 1 3 1 0.300 — — — 0 —
17 Bill Ingram 1922 9 6 3 0 0.667 — — — — — — — — —
18 J. Wilder Tasker 1924–1927 49 30 17 2 0.633 2 0 1 0.833 — — — 1 —
19 Branch Bocock 1928–1930
1936–1938 		59 29 27 3 0.517 16 13 0 0.552 — — — 2 —
20 John Kellison 1931–1934 40 21 17 2 0.550 12 4 0 0.750 — — — 2 —
21 Thomas Dowler 1935 10 3 4 3 0.450 2 0 1 0.357 — — — 1 —
22 Carl M. Voyles 1939–1942 39 29 7 3 0.782 12 2 2 0.813 — — — 1 —
23 Rube McCray 1944–1950 70 45 22 3 0.664 32 11 2 0.943 1 1 0 1 —
24 Marvin Bass 1951 10 7 3 0 0.700 5 1 0 0.833 0 0 0 0 —
25 Jack Freeman 1952–1956 48 14 29 5 0.344 9 13 3 0.420 0 0 0 0 —
26 Milt Drewer 1957–1963 69 21 46 2 0.319 15 31 2 0.333 0 0 0 0 —
27 Marv Levy 1964–1968 50 23 25 2 0.480 17 10 2 0.621 0 0 0 1 —
28 Lou Holtz 1969–1971 33 13 20 0 0.394 9 4 0 0.692 0 1 0 1 —
29 Jim Root 1972–1979 88 39 48 1 0.449 14 11 0 0.560 0 0 0 0 —
30 Jimmye Laycock 1980–2018 445 249 194 2 0.562 112 98 0 0.533 7 10 0 5 AFCA Region II Coach of the Year (1990)
31 Mike London 2019–present 62 36 26 — 0.581 23 20 — 0.535 1 1 — 1 —

Notes

  1. Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.
  2. A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
  3. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.
  4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.
  5. William & Mary has been a member of Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference since the 2006 season.
  6. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season.
  7. William & Mary did not have a head coach for the 1893 and 1901–1902 seasons.
  8. William & Mary did not field teams for the 1895 and 1943 seasons.
  9. 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

General
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. ^ 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. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  14. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  15. Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
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