William and Mary Head Coach Jimmye Laycock

09/09/00 12:00PM

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The 2007 campaign for the Tribe program will mark the 28th season in the illustrious career of head coach Jimmye Laycock. A 1970 graduate of William and Mary, Laycock is the program’s winningest coach, boasting a career 178-127-2 (.583) record. Since Laycock’s first season in 1980, the College has had 18 winning ledgers and played in postseason games in nine seasons.

As the architect of what is easily the most extended run of success in William and Mary’s 113-year football history, Laycock has never compromised academic standards for athletic success and has steadily built his program into a point of pride for the campus, alumni and community. When Laycock returned to coach his alma mater prior to the 1980 season, he inherited a program that had won six or more games in a season just four times in the previous 25 years. Few could have predicted that the College would produce more than three times that amount of seven-win seasons over the next quarter century. The accumulated successes, both on and off the field, have led to an era of unprecedented interest and support for his program.

Some evidence of this is provided in the fact the Tribe averaged over 10,000 fans per game in five home dates in 2006. W&M drew a total of 53,225 spectators to Zable Stadium in 2006, an average of 10,645 per game, the program’s best figure since the 1995 season.

During Laycock’s tenure, the fans at Zable have consistently been treated to a winner on the field, as the program’s mentor ranks in the top 10 of all active FCS head coaches in terms of career wins. Laycock is also second among active conference head coaches in career league wins with 69.

Laycock has made the home turf in Zable Stadium into unfriendly territory for opponents as the Tribe has won 75.6 percent of its games (91-29-1) in Williamsburg in the last 23 years. W&M has turned in seven undefeated regular season home campaigns.

Individual accomplishments under Laycock have been plentiful, as he has also tutored 30 players to 76 All-America honors from the William and Mary ranks and has coached 11 Academic All-Americans. Quarterback Lang Campbell is the most decorated of all, as the 2004 season saw him earn the prestigious Payton Award, given annually to the nation’s top offensive player in the FCS ranks, consensus first team All-America honors, as well as the A-10’s Offensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Tribe has produced an astounding 131 all-conference selections since 1993.

While no one season can define a career that spans more than two and a half decades, Laycock’s 25th year at the top of the Tribe program produced levels of success never before reached at the College.

W&M set a school record for wins (11), won the Atlantic 10 Football Conference’s automatic NCAA bid, hosted a NCAA semifinal game before a standing room only crowd at Zable Stadium in front of a national television audience and finished the year with a school record No. 3 final national ranking. Along the way, a bevy of school single-season records fell; total points (486), total yards (6,044) and home wins (seven), to name just a few.

But, none of these achievements spoke more succinctly to Laycock’s approach than the program’s 100 percent official NCAA graduation-rate report for all student-athletes receiving athletics aid. This showed W&M graduated all of its football players who entered the program as freshmen during the 1997-98 school year. The Tribe not only carried the highest graduation rate in the conference, but also was far and away the top figure of any team ranked in the final national top 25 for that season. To prove this lofty number was no fluke, the team repeated the feat just two years later, as the 1999-2001 cohort also graduated at 100 percent.

When looking at the NCAA Division I Championship Division world, the Tribe’s stellar 164-77-2 (.679) record against fellow Championship Division foes during Laycock’s career also confirms the success of his formula. The College also boasts a 69-45 (.605) mark in league play and has had 131 all-conference honors since 1993.

The 2001 campaign stood as a testament to Laycock’s program’s stability, as the team rebounded from a then nine-year low 5-6 record in 2000 to post an 8-4 mark, claiming a share of the Atlantic 10 Crown and earning a spot in the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs.

The 1996 campaign is another prime example of how Laycock has perpetuated a winning tradition within W&M’s rigorous classroom standards, as he led a youth-laden squad to a quarterfinal showing in the NCAA playoffs, a 10-3 overall record (7-1 in league play), the Tribe’s first Yankee Conference Championship, and a fifth-place national ranking.

One trademark of a Laycock-coached team is a prolific and intricate offensive attack. The Tribe offense averaged better than 420 yards and 26 points over the 115 games it played in the 1990s.

Prior to the 2004 campaign, the 1990 season stood as the benchmark for the Tribe program. That season, Laycock was honored by his peers as Coach of the Year in Region II and the state of Virginia for guiding the Tribe to 10 wins and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the Division I-AA playoffs.

That 1990 squad, ranked No. 7 in the final NCAA poll, refashioned many pages in the school record book. W&M led the country in total offense by averaging almost 500 yards per game and claimed the Lambert Cup for I-AA supremacy in the East. Even the Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution commending Laycock accomplishments. The Tribe’s 1996 squad led the conference in both total offense and defense en route to earning its own Lambert Cup and ECAC Team of the Year honors.

After some lean years early in his tenure, Laycock’s teams began building respectability among all opponents. After a pair of 6-5 seasons, W&M carved out a 7-4 mark in 1985 and a national ranking of No. 16. The winning ways continued in 1986 with a 9-3 record and an eighth-place final ranking. In that season, the Tribe advanced to the I-AA playoffs for the first time and had three players drafted by the NFL.

Although William and Mary dipped to a 5-6 slate in 1987, the Tribe recovered to post a 6-4-1 overall record in 1988. That memorable season climaxed with a trip to Japan and a 73-3 victory over the Japanese College All-Stars in the first Epson Ivy Bowl. The Tribe returned to the NCAAs in 1989 with an 8-2-1 regular season record.

Laycock has also tutored 30 players to 76 All-America honors from the William and Mary ranks and has coached seven Academic All-Americans.

The record-setting tandem of quarterback Campbell and wide out Dominique Thompson each signed free agent contracts, with the Cleveland Browns and St. Louis Rams, respectively, in the spring of 2005. Thompson has remained with the Rams, while Campbell ended the 2007 season as the starting quarterback for the Austin Wranglers of the Arena League. The Tribe is currently represented by free safety Darren Sharper (Minnesota Vikings), a second round draft pick of the Green Bay in 1997 and Mike Leach (Denver Broncos) in the NFL ranks, along with summer of 2007 free agent signees, wide out Rich Musinski (San Diego Chargers) and tackle Adam O’Connor (Minnesota Vikings). Former all-conference defensive back Billy Parker also played professionally in 2007, as he started every game for the New York Dragons of the Arena League. Michael Clemons (Class of 1987) had been one of the CFL’s most explosive players since joining the Toronto Argonauts in 1989, a team he now coaches. At press time, Clemons had added another former Tribe player to the pro ranks, as he signed long-time NFL veteran, kicker Steve Christie to the Argos’ roster.

As a 1970 graduate of the College, Laycock played football under two gurus of the game. For three years, he learned the details under the watchful eyes of Marv Levy, the legendary former head coach of the Buffalo Bills. In his last season, collegiate coaching legend Lou Holtz schooled Laycock in the finer aspects of psyche and motivation. As a sophomore, Laycock was a starter in the defensive secondary, but he was soon switched to quarterback where he completed 96 of 218 passes for 1,366 yards.

Laycock’s first full-time coaching position came at The Citadel as the offensive backfield coach under Bobby Ross, who went on to coach the NFL’s San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions. In 1975, Memphis State tabbed Laycock as its quarterback’s coach and he helped the Tigers to consecutive 7-4 records.

In 1977, Laycock traveled to Clemson to serve as offensive coordinator for three years. Under his tutelage, the Tigers went 8-3-1, 11-1 and 8-4. Clemson played in bowl games each year, defeating Ohio State 17-15 in the 1978 Gator Bowl. At that time, Laycock coached two-time All-ACC performer Steve Fuller, the Tiger quarterback who later played in the NFL, and Dwight Clark, an All-Pro receiver for the 49ers.

A native Virginian, Laycock played football, basketball and baseball at Loudoun Valley High School, where he won 12 letters and has since had his number retired.

Laycock is married to Deidre Connelly, a sports psychology consultant at the College. They have three children: Michael (16), Mary Louise (15) and James (13).

Laycock’s daughter, Melanie was married this past summer to Doug Johnson and is a teacher in Atlanta, Georgia.