Tribe Athletics confirmed Monday that defensive coordinator Bob Shoop has resigned from his position at the College. According to ESPN.com, Shoop has been hired to fill the same capacity at Vanderbilt.
Shoop notified his players of his decision to leave last week, and he had been discussing his plans with Head Coach Jimmye Laycock for a few days.
“He talked with me late last week,” Laycock said in an email. “He took a job he was excited about pursuing and I wished him the best of luck as he moved forward. I’ve been through this many, many times, you hate to lose good people, but it happens in this business.”
Shoop was credited with bringing a new type of defensive toughness to the College, and the Tribe’s defense thrived under his tenure.
Before coming to William and Mary in 2007, Shoop was the head coach at Columbia for three years before taking a defensive backs coach position at CAA rival Massachucetts.
Although 2009 was his best statistical season at the College, the squad continued to play solid defense this year. The Tribe finished the 2010 season ranked 30th in total defense, and allowed a total of 25 offensive touchdowns this season.
Shoop was regarded as a skilled recruiter, who was well versed in developing talent.Current NFL players Derek Cox ’09, Adrian Tracy ’10 and Sean Lissemore ’10 all played under Shoop.
“He was a great coach for us,” Laycock said. “But, obviously, I think all our coaches do a great job preparing our players. Bob did an excellent job of fitting his system to the players on the roster. Our team has played very well defensively the last the several years and I would hope the men who are coming back will want to continue to find ways to improve and keep the high standard.”
After years of coaching at the FCS level, Shoop will return to FBS football for the first time since 2002, when he was a defensive backs coach at Boston College.
Shoop was hired by James Franklin, who was an offensive coordinator at Maryland before accepting the Vanderbilt head coaching job earlier this year
As far the College’s search for a new defensive coordinator, Laycock says that he will take his time in finding the right candidate.
“I’m not going to do anything for a while,” Laycock said. “I want to get through recruiting. I will consider every option before moving forward, both internally and externally.”
