London reported to be named later today Head Coach W&M

[URo-Line]

Mike London, who led Virginia’s football program from 2010-15, will reportedly be the next head coach at William & Mary.

Football Scoop is reporting that London has landed the job:

Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell FootballScoop Mike London has the job and will be announced later today. Mike London is the new head football coach at William & Mary.

 

[MolivaManiac]

I think Mike could do well there. The major gripe that I had from Mike's time here was his lack of recruiting on offensive line. He recruited like he was going to be here for only 2 years. He probably knows this might be his 'last stop' and will recruit accordingly.

His game management wasn't terrific either, but he could certainly get the kids motivated.

Mike will probably be able to assemble a pretty good staff down there and really ramp up the recruiting. They have a lot to sell at WM.

Good luck to both Mike and the Tribe ... except for the 3rd Saturday in November each year.

 

[Captain Anderson]

It will be interesting to see how Mike does in Williamsburg. He had the luxury of following Dave Clawson who is one of the better program builders in the country...particularly at smaller schools with tough admission standards, etc. Clawson did a great job of building a strong, balanced roster and Mike did a great job of getting/motivating those guys to play their best. I think the game management issues are a concern. They were very apparent during his tenure in Charlottesville. On the flip side: Mike is a really good recruiter and relationship builder. He's also a spider alum and a really good man (Despite how a lot of our fans/alums felt about his departure). I echo Moliva's comment above that I wish him much luck except for one game a year.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

UVA plays William and Mary next year.

I don't knowabout this hire. He won us a NC but sent the program in a downward trajectory that Rocco bailed us out of. He then didn't develop any of his hyped recruits at UVA and turned them into the laughing stock of Power 5 football. And what exactly has he done at Howard save beating UNLV? He has no evidence of building a successful football program, something WM is in need of right now. His ties to 757 will help get some players I suppose. Nice guy, great recruiter, terrible game manager.

I think WM just gave us a pathway to build a lead in the Capital Cup.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Mike is a really good recruiter

Is he, though? That's always been his rep, but consider how he did at UVA. He was hired there in large part based on that rep. Did he out-recruit VT while he was there? They are in their 3rd year with Bronco and just now on the upswing. Also, as Mo alluded to above, Latrell and Rocco had to fill some holes on the "program-building" front.

Nonetheless, his players love him and I think he'll have a lot of success there.

 

[Spiders10]

A little surprised the Indians would go in this direction, based on his results over the past 7-8 years. I understand his 757 connection, but if I'm correct he hasn't set the MEAC on fire.

With that said, congrats Mike. I hope he does well, because the UR-WM rivalry really needs a spark. Feel like we've been beating up on our little brother for the last decade.

Last time we played Mike we rang up 60. Let's keep it going.

I wonder if Mike will get the old band back together -- Faragalli, Vincent Brown, Hanson, Vic Shealy, etc

 

[DTSpider]

Congrats to London. If he hires good assistants that can take care of the Xs & Os he could be real trouble for us there.

 

[spider fan]

It is of interest that London was hired in his second year at Howard which ended with a 4-6 record. Wondering out loud how long London has known that William and Mary was going to hire him? Haven't we seen this script before? Agree he could do well with the Tribe. He will definitely be at home in more ways than one there and have nowhere the spotlight that he was under while coaching the Hoos. He is a Spider and we gave him his first head coaching job. Share the same sentiment of wishing him the best except against us. Imagine he may well end his career there which is a nice finish. The Tribe earned 12 FCS playoff berths(declined twice in order to play in Epson-Ivy Bowl against Japan all-stars) during Laycock's tenure. Last time was 2015, their last winning season, and we sent them packing with a resounding 48-13 win at Robins.

 

[Spider B]

London can recruit, but his track record of developing the talent he recruits into a winning football team is not good. His greatest accomplishment as a head coach was not messing up what Clawson built, and he deserves credit for that. Nice guy, but as a coach I think he is more of a Mooney type coach than a Clawson in terms of on field success. Time will tell.

 

[spiderjpo]

This is a win win for WM. Coach has won a National Championship and can recruit Tidewater area.

 

[SpiderRick]

[QUOTE="Spider B: His greatest accomplishment as a head coach was not messing up what Clawson built, and he deserves credit for that.

Wished that Huesman had used that philosophy in 2017 and not have messed up what Rocco built....

 

[WebSpinner]

agree that ML inherited a great team from DC but not so sure what RH inherited from rocco, think our ship was leaking before rocco departed and the leak grew bigger in the manner in which he left. ML does know tidewater but there are not a big number of good prospects down there who will qualify for the reservation. his players love him and they will play for him. wish him luck, a good guy and a SPID

 

[Ferrum Spider]

[QUOTE="Spider B: His greatest accomplishment as a head coach was not messing up what Clawson built, and he deserves credit for that.

Wished that Huesman had used that philosophy in 2017 and not have messed up what Rocco built....

Wish Rocco didn't air his dirty laundry on the way out, wish he didn't recruit dozens of players who were only loyal to him and maybe we don't have this problem?

I'm not 100% sold on RH but he had a lot more issues to deal with then Mike London. That team ML took over was loaded with JR/SR and had the same coaching staff in place. RH had to hire a new coaching staff, implement a new offense/defense, recruit an entirely new recruiting class (In the toughest FCS conference) and not to mention a (Very good) QB coming off major surgery. I do think we could of performed better then 6-5 because we had a NFL QB but the defense wasn't nearly as talented as it was in years past.

Rocco bailed before it got ugly, just like he did at Liberty. Not only that, he did not recruit walk-ons the way DC did to build depth in the program. We had a team loaded with D3 all-stars below our 2 deep to help fill in the holes when we eventually had all those injuries in our more formative years.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Agree with Ferrum's post above. What's interesting is Rocco's team at Delaware this year has about 25 seniors, including 8 starters on defense and at least 6 or 7 on offense.

 

[whampas]

Agree with Ferrum's post above. What's interesting is Rocco's team at Delaware this year has about 25 seniors, including 8 starters on defense and at least 6 or 7 on offense.

If you read their board, which I did after the selection show, you would think they finished with a losing record. Many are ready to run him off or at least insist on dismissing the OC and DC. They hate the umbrella defense and boring offense. The honeymoon is over.

 

[Spiders10]

Agree with Ferrum's post above. What's interesting is Rocco's team at Delaware this year has about 25 seniors, including 8 starters on defense and at least 6 or 7 on offense.

Do you think the Chickens take a step back next year? Let's hope for 0-11

 

[FrontRoyalSpider]

Do you think the Chickens take a step back next year? Let's hope for 0-11

Here is hoping for an 0-12 record for The Dillweeds!

 

[SpiderRick]

RH had to hire a new coaching staff, implement a new offense/defense, recruit an entirely new recruiting class (In the toughest FCS conference) and not to mention a (Very good) QB coming off major surgery. I do think we could of performed better then 6-5 because we had a NFL QB but the defense wasn't nearly as talented as it was in years past.

Well, that was kinda my point. London came in and didn't change anything. Huesman came in and changed schemes. The defense took 6 or 7 games before they finally began to grasp the new defensive scheme, and during that time we lost several close games. Just win one or two of those and we're in the playoffs and now comfortable with the Huseman way of doing things. If we had gotten into the playoffs with a NFL quarterback who was having a great year, no telling what could have happened.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Well, that was kinda my point. London came in and didn't change anything. Huesman came in and changed schemes. The defense took 6 or 7 games before they finally began to grasp the new defensive scheme, and during that time we lost several close games. Just win one or two of those and we're in the playoffs and now comfortable with the Huseman way of doing things. If we had gotten into the playoffs with a NFL quarterback who was having a great year, no telling what could have happened.

What do you suggest by not changing anything? Keep the entire staff and playbook? That was not possible thanks to his predecessor. My point is ML didnt have to due to talent and everything else already being in place. That was simply no the case with RH with the staff upheaval and discontent from some of the remaining players. When you consider RH was responsible for the defense on that 08 team it makes the argument sound even sillier imo. ML rode his coattails at that point.

This is not a ringing endorsement of RH, I have some serious questions about his abilities to keep composure during the course of a game, some of his halftime interviews early on in 17 gave me cause for pause. But I don't think its fair to suggest that if he just did what ML did everything would of been fine last season (Or this). There is a serious talent gap (And fan enthusiasm) between that 2008 team and the 2017 (And certainly 2018) spiders, save KL I don't know if a lot of those players would of seen significant PT on that 08 squad other then the receivers, Clyde and Yarbs.

That roster was loaded and didnt need anything other then for someone to roll out the balls compared to what RH has dealt with. Dave Clawson didnt leave in the middle of our regular season while holding a middle finger up at the fan base and administration. Weather Rocco was on our team or not last season that team would of lost to all 3 of our teams from 2007-2009. If it were the 2016 team I could see the argument there about RH. But I doubt we would of had a deep run if Rocco was pulling the same crap in 2015 he did in 2017.

If ML was our coach last season it wouldn't of been much different. Hell, we set a scoring record against him at Howard and imagine we will have many more chances to do so.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Yes.
Clawson left behind a team that was championship-ready. Tied in the second half of the semi-finals against the eventual national champion, with Armanti Edwards going superhuman. Hightower was a huge loss, but just about everyone else was coming back.

The 2016 team got boatraced in the quarterfinals and DR had checked out. Lots of turnover post-2016, too.

 

[MolivaManiac]

It is also worth distinguishing another important difference:

Clawson left for an OC job and brought one assistant with him - Latrell.

Danny left for a HC position and took 2/3 of our staff with him. Hard to maintain much continuity when Dave Legg and Sparky are the only holdovers.

 

[urfan1]

to lazy to look it up, but didn't DR take a few verbals on his way out the door -- yes I know ML took one

 

[ncspiderfan]

Yes.
Clawson left behind a team that was championship-ready. Tied in the second half of the semi-finals against the eventual national champion, with Armanti Edwards going superhuman. Hightower was a huge loss, but just about everyone else was coming back.

The 2016 team got boatraced in the quarterfinals and DR had checked out. Lots of turnover post-2016, too.

Good points about Clawson leaving us ready.
Hightower was a big loss, but if I remember correctly Josh Vaughn stepped right in and had one heck of year, so he had depth ready.

 

[3genspider]

to lazy to look it up, but didn't DR take a few verbals on his way out the door -- yes I know ML took one

https://www.delawareonline.com/stor...aware-covet-opportunity-play-rocco/769565001/

 

[urfan1]

https://www.delawareonline.com/stor...aware-covet-opportunity-play-rocco/769565001/

thanks I thought I recalled he raided the cupboards on the way out

 

[DTSpider]

All of that is accurate of the differences where DC left a program to be successful and DR trashed it on the way out in terms of coaches and recruits. In addition, DC had been redshirting guys to build depth, particularly on the lines. DR didn’t redshirt guys other than QBs or injuries. Look at the lines - not many redshirt seniors or juniors

 

[Spiders10]

Danny Rocco will go down as the biggest horse's ass in UofR history.

 

[DTSpider]

Danny Rocco will go down as the biggest horse's ass in UofR history.

He definitely gives ole Bill Cooper a run for his money, but no one tops Fly the Coop in my view.

 

[paward]

I like London. I do not like him being at W&M. That is all!

 

[AnnapSpider]

He was successful at Richmond because of Clauson’s recruits. He didn’t do a thing to improve
UVA, and hasn’t been a transformer at Howard.
He may be the nicest guy in the world, but I wouldn’t want him back at Richmond, and don’t understand
W & M’s desire to have him.