William & Mary didn’t wait until the early signing period in December to take care of its most pressing offseason need.
On Tuesday, before more than 100 players, athletic department officials, other coaches, fans and community members gathered in the President’s Suite at Zable Stadium, Mike London was introduced as the 30th coach in program history.
“This is very surreal,” said London, 58, who spent the past two years as the coach at Howard University in Washington, D.C. “I embrace this challenge and this opportunity.”
It’s a homecoming of sorts for London, who was born in Hampton and played football at Bethel High School and the University of Richmond.
He was an assistant at W&M and UR before leading the Spiders to the FCS Championship in 2008 as the head coach. He also was the head coach at the University of Virginia for five years.
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“This was the perfect opportunity, and the perfect choice,” said London, who met his wife while he was at W&M, and both have family nearby. “It was a no-brainer to me.”
London follows Jimmye Laycock, who announced in August he would retire at the end of the season. While Laycock was putting the finishing touches on a stellar 39-year career at his alma mater, Tribe Director of Athletics Samantha Huge was working behind the scenes to identify the next coach.
“Coach Laycock’s departure presented a unique challenge for us: finding the right coach with the pedigree of success with the values that we live by who would respect our student-athletes, and embrace the academic rigor and would be willing to follow a legend,” she said Tuesday. “Thankfully, we didn’t have to look too far. … Mike London is everything that we need in our head coach.”
