BALTIMORE, Md. (July 27, 2011) - With 13 starters returning from last season's squad that claimed the Colonial Athletic Association title and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Playoffs, the William and Mary football team has been chosen to repeat as league champions according to a vote of the conference's head coaches and media relations personnel at the 2011 CAA Media Day at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., on Wednesday.

Also highlighting the event was the announcement of the league's individual preseason honors, which included the selection of senior running back Jonathan Grimes as the preseason co-offensive player of the year. He was joined on the preseason all-conference team by senior tight end Alex Gottlieb, senior center James Pagliaro, senior defensive end Marcus Hyde, junior linebacker Dante Cook and junior cornerback B.W. Webb.

A two-time Payton Award Watch List selection, Grimes' long list of preseason All-America a ccolades includes first-team honors from The Sports Network, Phil Steele and Athlon, while Lindy's tabbed him to its second team. One of the most outstanding players in the program's history, Grimes has earned eight all-conference honors through just three seasons. The impressive total ties him with former New Hampshire quarterback Ricky Santos as the most decorated player in league history.

With 3,110 career rushing yards, Grimes enters the 2011 season ranked second among all active FCS players and needs just 635 more yards to eclipse the school record of 3,744 establ ished by Derek Fitzgerald. Additionally, Grimes already owns the school record for career all-purpose yards with 5,445 - a total that leads all active FCS players and ranks ninth in league history.

One of the nation's top pass-catching tight ends, Gottlieb's list of preseason All-America honors includes selections from The Sports Network (first team), Athlon (first team), Lindy's (first team) and Phil Steele (fourth team). A first-team all-conference honoree last season, he totale d 34 catches for 350 yards with three touchdowns in 2010.

Pagliaro established himself as one of the CAA's elite offensive linemen last fall when he helped anchor the Tribe offensive line and started all 12 games at center en route to earning all-league honors. Last season, W&M's offense averaged nearly 25 points per game while piling up nearly 350 yards of total offense per contest. Pagliaro will serve as one of the Tribe's four team captains this season.

A second-team all-conference selection in 2010, Hyde enters this fall as one of  the league's top returning defensive ends. Hyde ranked second in the CAA with 5.5 sacks last season, while his 12.5 tackles for a loss ranked sixth in the league. Additionally, he ranked third in the conference among defensive linemen with 5.2 tackles per game. One of the Tribe's veteran leaders, he will also serve as a team captain this season.

 Chosen as a preseason All-American by The Sports Network and Phil Steele, Cook is coming off a breakout sophomore season in which he led the team with 111 tackles en route to earning second team all-conference honors. He ranked fourth in the CAA with 10.1 tackles per game, while his stat line also included 9.0 tackles for a loss, 4.0 sacks, two interceptions (both returned for touc hdowns, totaling 134 interception return yards), a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and six PBUs.

In addition to the preseason all-league honor, Webb was also recently selected as a preseason All-American by Phil Steele. A first-team All-CAA selection in 2010, Webb is one of the nation's elite shutdown cornerbacks and ranks just outside the program's all-time top-10 list with nine career interceptions.

A consensus preseason top-10 selection, the Tribe recently garnered a No. 1 national ranking by Phil Steele's College Football Preview and will kickoff the 2011 campaign at Virginia on Sept. 3. Season tickets are available for purchase by calling the W&M Ticket Office at 757-221-3340 or by visiting TribeAthletics.com.

 
2011 Preseason Predicted Order of Finish (First Place Votes)
1.     William and Mary (12)
2.     James Madison (4)
3.     Delaware (2)
4.     New Hampshire (2)
5.     Massachusetts (1)
6.     Richmond
7.     Villanova
8.     Rhode Island (1)
9.     Maine
10.  Old Dominion
11.  Towson

2011 CAA Football Preseason Co-Offensive Players of the Year
RB, Jonathan Grimes - William and Mary
RB, Andrew Pierce - Delaware

2011 CAA Football Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
LB, Tyler Holmes - Massachusetts

2011 CAA Football Preseason All-Conference Team - Offense
QB, Steve Probst - Rhode Island
RB, Jonathan Grimes - William and Mary
RB, Andrew Pierce - Delaware
FB, Kendall Gaskins - Richmond
WR, Tre Gray - Richmond
WR, Julian Talley - Massachusetts
WR, Norman White - Villanova
TE, Alex Gottlieb - William and Mary
OL, Roane Babington - James Madison
OL, Gino Gradkowski, Delaware
OL, Rob McDowell, Delaware
OL, James Pagliaro, William and Mary
OL, Dan Shirey - Villanova

2011 CAA Football Preseason All-Conference Team - Defense
DL, Michael Atunrase - Delaware
DL, Frank Beltre - Towson
DL, Marcus Hyde - William and Mary
DL, Antoine Lewis - Villanova
LB, Dante Cook - William and Mary
LB, Matt Evans - New Hampshire
LB, Tyler Holmes - Massachusetts
LB, Stephon Robertson - James Madison
LB, Paul Worrilow - Delaware
S, Jerron McMillian - Maine
S, Vidal Nelson - James Madison
CB, James Pitts - Villanova
CB, B.W. Webb - William and Mary

2011 CAA Football Preseason All-Conference Team - Special Teams
RS, Travis Hurd - Rhode Island
PK, Wil Kamin - Richmond
P, David Skahn - James Madison