WILLIAMSBURG— As the William & Mary Tribe gets ready for the 2024 football season, WYDaily caught up with some of the team’s players ahead of Thursday night’s kickoff.
Hollis Mathis has played multiple positions for the Tribe, including quarterback, receiver, and running back, and that won’t change in 2024.
Prior to his time at William & Mary, Mathis had a standout high school career at Penn Hills High School in Pennsylvania. A four-year letter winner, he set school records for career passing yards and touchdown passes. He was a two-time first-team, all-state selection, and was ranked as a two-star recruit by 247Sports.
Mathis, who has played with head coach Mike London throughout his tenure with the program, earned starter experience as a freshman in 2019. After dealing with some injuries, Mathis switched positions from starting quarterback to receiver and running back.
“Last year was really a year where I tried to settle into a new role. It was not the first time of me being in a new role but it was an expansion of my role. I was trying to learn the tricks of the trade for my new position and how I could leverage my skill set,” Mathis said.
As the Tribe kicks off the 2024 season against Virginia Military Institute, Mathis is reminding his teammates to take things one game at a time.
“Everybody’s main goal is to go out and win the big one, the national championship. That’s what we have our eyes set on, but the important thing about that is that when you are trying to win the biggest one, that means you need to win every single game leading up to that point. Some people will tell you not to get ahead of yourself, but I say if you set the big goal, then you have to set tiny little missions that you need to accomplish along the way,” Mathis said.
Mathis started at William & Mary the same season as London.
“Coach London does a great job at giving us phrases that we can easily repeat that we always cling on to. He always wants to make sure that we are ready to play ball, no matter what the circumstance is. He really tries to make sure that we are buying into the things that he’s trying to change from a culture standpoint,” Mathis said.
Mathis, who has been playing football since the age of seven and is in his second year as a student in the William & Mary MBA program, knows that football can teach many lessons on and off the field.
“Things are hard and you need to do the work. I’ve always been shown in football that if you really want to do anything and be successful at it, you have to do the work, and a lot of the time that work won’t be exactly what you want every day. However, if you work hard now, you will see the success that you’ll have later on down the line,” Mathis said.
For more information on all things William & Mary football, visit tribeathletics.com.
