With five new additions to its coaching staff and an incoming class of standout athletes, William and Mary football aims to rebound this season.
“You can be at an academic school and you can compete for championships,” head coach Mike London said, following the Green and Gold’s final game of 2023 against Richmond. “That’s the bar.”
According to the 2024 Coastal Athletic Association preseason poll, William and Mary is expected to finish fourth in its conference. The Tribe received 175 points, just four behind Albany and forty-two behind Villanova, who coaches predicted will finish first for the second year in a row
Last season, the Tribe went 6-5 and placed seventh in the CAA, a stark contrast to their dominant 11-2 record in 2022. Since the fall, London has hired running backs coach Perry Jones, quarterbacks coach Ted Hefter ’21, outside linebackers/nickels coach Kevin Jarrell ’22 and offensive quality control coaches Nick Remo and Jamie Wilson.
As William and Mary football alumni, Hefter and Jarrell are no strangers to the program.
Before serving as the passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Dayton last season, Hefter played quarterback for the Green and Gold, appearing in 24 games with four starts.
During his final season of eligibility in 2023, Jarrell captained the Tribe, starting all 11 games as a linebacker and securing a spot on the All-CAA Third Team.
Jones and Remo joining the Tribe brought valuable experience from their time as high school coaches.
Jones served as head coach at Glen Allen High School in Glen Allen, Va. from 2019 to 2023. Last fall, he earned the team a spot in the Region 6A Playoffs. Before his coaching career, Jones played running back at Virginia, where he ranked fifth all-time in career receptions and ninth in all-purpose yards in Cavalier program history.
Remo spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons at St. Cloud High School in St. Cloud, Fla., where he worked as the linebackers coach.
Prior to his time with Tribe football, Wilson coached the defensive line and tight ends at Clarion. There, he also served as a graduate assistant for two years.
Alongside an accomplished coaching staff, the program boasts several distinguished athletes this season.
“There’s also guys that are back that have played in a lot of college football games for us, and so we’re relying on those guys because they’ve been game tested, game ready to step out and step up in a big way for us,” London said.
Graduate running back Bronson Yoder, junior tight end Trey McDonald and senior offensive lineman Charles Grant earned places on the Preseason All-CAA Team. Senior running back Malachi Imoh, senior offensive lineman Ryan McKenna and senior safety Marcus Barnes received honorable mentions.
As the conference’s No. 1 tackle in pass blocking proficiency last season, Grant also was selected to the 2025 Senior Bowl Watchlist, the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List and the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000 Watch List.
Last season, Yoder captained the Green and Gold, starting the first four games and totaling 408 rushing yards on 77 carries with four touchdowns before suffering a severe upper-body injury that ended his red-shirt junior campaign.
“With him, it’ll be day by day, week to week,” London said following Yoder’s injury. “He’s one tough cookie, he’s a tough individual.”
As a junior, Imoh ranked fifth in the conference in rushing yards per game and sixth nationally in yards per carry. Imoh also secured positions on the CAA’s 2023 honorable mentions list and the Virginia Sports Information Directors All-State Second Team.
Finalized in February, Tribe football’s 2024 recruiting class includes 14 freshmen from Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.
London feels confident about this season’s roster.
“We had a really good training camp,” London said. “A lot of guys had opportunities to get reps, and a lot of guys had opportunities to show what they could do.”
Thursday, Aug. 29, the Tribe will open its season against Virginia Military Institute at Walter J. Zable Stadium in Williamsburg, Va.
