Having led the No. 19/20 William and Mary football team to one of the best turnarounds in school history, head coach Jimmye Laycock has been selected as a finalist for Eddie Robinson Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top Football Championship Subdivision head coach.
Laycock is one of 21 finalists being considered for the national coach of the year honor.
With one game remaining on the regular-season slate and a potential playoff berth on the horizon, Laycock has guided the Tribe to a 7-4 record this year, which represents a five-game improvement in the win column from a year ago.
W&M has posted the impressive record despite playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules, which includes seven games against FCS teams that are currently ranked or have been ranked this season as well as a season-opening trip to West Virginia.
The five-game improvement represents the second-best turnaround in school history (tied with the 1975 team) and is just one win shy of matching the program’s best one-year improvement (2004 team).
W&M boasts one of the nation’s top defensive units this season and currently leads the country in scoring defense (12.5) and ranks seventh in total defense (298.5). The Tribe has been especially effective during the past four games, all of which have come against nationally ranked teams that averaged more than 32 points per game, and has allowed just three offensive touchdowns.
One of the most successful coaches in college football history, Laycock’s 222 career wins rank fifth nationally among all active FCS coaches, while his 96 conference victories rank third all-time in the Colonial Athletic Association.
During his 34 seasons at W&M, Laycock has guided W&M to the NCAA playoffs nine times and posted 22 winning ledgers. Additionally, the College has advanced to the NCAA FCS semifinals twice in the last nine years and garnered the program’s first No. 1 national ranking during the 2010 campaign.
Albany’s Bob Ford is the only active Division I head coach who has been with his respective program longer than Laycock.
Voting for the Eddie Robinson Award will reflect only regular-season results and will be conducted by a national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries. The winner will be announced at The Sports Network FCS Awards Banquet and Presentation to be held Dec. 16 in Philadelphia.
