List of William & Mary Tribe head football coaches

Lou Holtz coached William & Mary to the 1970 Tangerine Bowl.

The William & Mary Tribe college football team 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."

There have been 30 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 current head coach Jimmye Laycock. Through the 2015 season he has amassed 239 wins, which is over five times more than the next closest head coach, Rube McCray, who had 45. Laycock has been at the helm since the 1980 season, also making him the longest tenured coach in program history. 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 10 times through 2015 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

General

#	A running total of the number of coaches
CCs	Conference championships
†	Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame

Overall games

GC	Games coached
OW	Wins
OL	Losses
OT	Ties
O%	Winning percentage

Postseason games

PW	Wins
PL	Losses
PT	Ties

Coaches

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2015 college football season

#	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	PW	PL	PT	CCs	Awards
1	John W. Wright	1894	1	0	1	6999100000000000000♠0	.000	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
2	Bill Armstrong	1896	2	0	2	6999100000000000000♠0	.000	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
3	W. J. King	1897–98, 1900	6	2	4	6999100000000000000♠0	.333	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
4	William H. Burke	1899	5	2	3	6999100000000000000♠0	.400	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—
5	H. J. Davall	1903	4	1	3	6999100000000000000♠0	.250	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
6	J. Merrill Blanchard	1904–05, 1910	22	6	14	2	.318	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
7	H. W. Withers	1906	8	2	6	6999100000000000000♠0	.250	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
8	James H. Barry	1907	9	6	3	6999100000000000000♠0	.667	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
9	George E. O'Hearn	1908–09	21	10	10	1	.500	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
10	William J. Young	1911–12	15	1	12	2	.133	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
11	Dexter W. Draper	1913–15	24	1	21	2	.083	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
12	Samuel H. Hubbard	1916	9	2	5	2	.333	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
13	Herbert J. Young	1917	8	3	5	6999100000000000000♠0	.375	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
14	Vernon Geddy	1918	2	0	2	6999100000000000000♠0	.000	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
15	James G. Driver	1919–20	18	6	11	1	.361	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
16	Bill Fincher†	1921	8	4	3	1	.563	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
17	Bill Ingram†	1922	9	6	3	6999100000000000000♠0	.667	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
18	J. Wilder Tasker	1923–27	49	30	17	2	.633	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
19	Branch Bocock	1928–30, 1936–38	59	29	27	3	.517	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
20	John Kellison	1931–34	40	21	17	2	.550	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	2	—
21	Thomas Dowler	1935	10	3	4	3	.450	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	1	—
22	Carl M. Voyles	1939–42	39	29	7	3	.782	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	1	—
23	Rube McCray	1944–50	67	45	22	6999100000000000000♠0	.672	1	1	0	1	—
24	Marvin Bass	1951	10	7	3	6999100000000000000♠0	.700	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
25	Jack Freeman	1953–56	39	10	24	5	.321	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
26	Milt Drewer	1957–63	69	21	46	2	.319	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
27	Marv Levy	1964–68	50	23	25	2	.480	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	1	—
28	Lou Holtz†	1969–71	33	13	20	6999100000000000000♠0	.394	0	1	0	1	—
29	Jim Root	1972–79	88	39	48	1	.449	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	5000000000000000000♠—	—
30	Jimmye Laycock	1980–present	389	239	173	2	.580	6	9	0	4	AFCA Region II Coach of the Year (1990) AFCA Region I Coach of the Year (2010)

References

General

Specific