01/01/00 12:00PM

-

One of the greatest players ever to wear the Green and Gold, David Corley, Jr., comes into his third season on the Tribe’s staff with a new responsibility in a familiar area as the team’s quarterbacks coach. He is certain to be a tremendous asset to the position, as he has a wealth of perspective and playing experience, being a 2002 graduate of the College and the school’s all-time leading passer.

Corley’s primary recruiting areas are Charlottesville and Richmond in Virginia and the southeast, including Georgia and South Carolina.

His tenure with the College is his first full-time position and much like his playing career, Corley has proved to be a quick study. He spent his first two years with the program working with the team’s running backs and made an immediate impact, as he groomed tailback Jonathan Grimes into one of the most decorated athletes in the history of the conference. Grimes set the Tribe’s freshman records for both rushing and all-purpose yards and was named as a honorable mention All-American as a return specialist. Grimes follow-up sophomore campaign established him as one of the country’s top running backs, as the Palmyra, N.J., native currently ranks 10th on the Tribe’s career rushing list with 2,223 yards and is just outside the program’s all-time top-10 with 16 rushing touchdowns. Grimes earned first-team all-conference honors in 2010 after leading the league with 1,294 rushing yards, a figure that ranks third on W&M’s single-season list. Additionally, he ranked second in the Colonial Athletic Association and 13th nationally with 145.9 all purpose yards per game while finding the end zone 10 times (nine rushing/one receiving). In addition to leading the Tribe’s ground attack, Grimes also distinguished himself on special teams and earned third-team All-CAA honors as a kick returner.

Corley returns to the College where he excelled as a four-year starter and multiple-time all-conference QB from 1999 through 2002. He wrote his name in nearly every significant passing record for the school, including graduating as the Tribe’s all-time leader in passing yards (9,805), total offense (10,948) and touchdown passes (73).

He remains one of only two quarterbacks (the other being Stan Yagiello, 1981-85) to be a four-year starter during the Laycock era. Corley began his playing career by earning the league’s Rookie of the Year honors after the 1999 season, where he started the final eight games of the Tribe’s schedule. He twice led the league in passing efficiency (1999 and 2002) and earned post-season honors in each of his final four years on campus.

Corley played an important role in helping lead the team to a conference title in 2001 and was selected as the squad’s captain for the 2002 season. The native of Columbia, S.C., was named as the College’s Outstanding Senior Athlete for the 2002-03 school year and was a two-time runner up for the prestigious Dudley Award, presented annually to the outstanding collegiate player in the state of Virginia.

Corley is able to draw on a wide-range of playing experience he gathered in professional playing stints in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger Cats (2003) and Calgary Stampeders (2006). He also was as a member of the Arena Football League’s New York Dragons (2005).

Corley met his wife, Brianne, while playing professional football in the Canadian Football League. They reside in Williamsburg and are expecting their first child in November.