THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9410210759
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Long : 191 lines
When Jimmye Laycock came to William and Mary as head football coach in 1980, most figured he'd head for greener pastures within a few years.
A former offensive coordinator at Clemson who had played for Lou Holtz and Marv Levy at William and Mary, he was considered a rising star in the coaching profession. And William and Mary wasn't exactly Notre Dame.
``People were telling me my first day on campus that I'd better be ready to hire a new football coach,'' said Tribe athletic director John Randolph, who came to William and Mary in 1985.
``I thought they were right. I didn't think he'd stay.''
But so far, they've all been wrong. Laycock has been at William and Mary 14 1/2 seasons, the 14 1/2 most successful seasons in modern Tribe history. And he shows no signs of leaving.
``I would have guessed years ago that I would have been gone by now,'' Laycock said.
``I don't know what the future holds. But I could stay here the rest of my career. I'm very comfortable here.''
And Tribe fans are very comfortable with Laycock. With a career record of 95-69-2, he has taken the Tribe to postseason play six times. This season the Tribe is 5-2 and ranked 12th nationally.
Saturday, William and Mary travels to James Madison for a game that likely will decide the Mid-Atlantic Division title in the Yankee Conference.
William and Mary is the defending Mid-Atlantic champion and is clearly No.1 among the state's Division I-AA teams.
All at a school that doesn't make academic exceptions for football and had a checkered football history prior to Laycock's arrival.
``It was tough in the beginning to sell William and Mary to good football players,'' Laycock said. ``We've got very tough academics.''
And in 1980, William and Mary was a tough place to coach football. At that time Division I had not yet split into two divisions - Division I-A and I-AA. Everyone knew it was coming, and some at William and Mary were trying to keep step with the big-time programs.
There was an ill-fated move to expand Cary Field (now Zable Stadium) that was quashed in part by student and faculty protests. Some even called for the abolition of football, or a downgrading of the program to Division III.
Jim Root, Laycock's predecessor, struggled mightily to win, and to maintain a big-time program, before finally resigning. He stood in good company, for Holtz and Levy had both failed to win in Williamsburg as well.
In Laycock's first game, the Tribe was pummeled by North Carolina State, 42-0. Later would come a 45-7 shellacking at Navy.
Laycock struggled to 2-9, 5-6 and 3-8 records his first three seasons. Meanwhile, he was building up a layer of trust with the school's administration, faculty and fans.
``We had to develop credibility,'' he said. ``Probably, there was a lack of understanding and trust when we got here. Once people realized what kind of program we were running, once they knew there wasn't any behind-the-scenes agenda and that strings weren't being pulled to get kids in, then it was easy to support the program.''
It helped Laycock when the Tribe joined Division I-AA in 1984 and began playing a more reasonable schedule.
He had his first winning season in 1983 (6-5). In 1986, Laycock got his team into the I-AA playoffs and established William and Mary as the state's pre-eminent I-AA program. The Tribe went 9-3 that season and upset Virginia in Charlottesville.
``Once we established the winning, we had a lot to sell,'' he said.
``How many Division I schools have the academics that we do that have been as successful as we've been?
``Nobody. That's a lot to offer a good football player with good grades.''
Laycock said he owes some of his success to Levy and Holtz, who coached him two seasons apiece.
``The thing that stuck with me from both of them is how they adhered to detail,'' Laycock said. ``Everything was planned and thought out in advance.
``I didn't know any different until I got out there and worked with some coaches who didn't do things exactly right. It was then I realized I might have an edge.''
After graduation, Laycock thought he wanted to coach in high school and signed on as a coach at the old Newport News High.
``I talked to Holtz about it,'' Laycock said. ``He brought me in and asked if I was interested in coaching in college.
``I told him I was going to teach in high school. It took me about a week to realize teaching isn't all it's cracked up to be.''
Laycock came back to Williamsburg during summer practice as a graduate assistant for Holtz. After a season there he made stops at Clemson (twice), The Citadel and Memphis State before returning to William and Mary.
Madison coach Rip Scherer, a William and Mary alumnus who stayed in Laycock's dormitory room on his recruiting visit to Williamsburg, has admired Laycock's success from afar.
``He's got a philosophy, and he stayed with that philosophy throughout some tough times,'' Scherer said.
``He's one of the top offensive people in the country at any level. That has kind of allowed him to make his mark.''
Laycock's success has attracted attention from many Division I-A schools. In recent years Laycock has interviewed twice at Wake Forest, Duke and Navy, as well as once each at East Carolina, Maryland and Boston College.
It was at Boston College that Laycock suffered the low point of his coaching career.
Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, one of Laycock's closest friends, had already turned down an offer from BC when Laycock interviewed in 1990. Laycock was inclined to do the same, but instead accepted the job shortly after his trip to Boston.
The next day, a press conference was scheduled in Boston to announce Laycock as the new coach. But overnight he changed his mind, and the next day he told BC officials he was turning them down.
The change of heart drew national headlines. But Beamer says Laycock did the right thing.
``If he hadn't handled it the way he did, he would have made two mistakes,'' Beamer said. ``After he'd had time to think about it, he was convinced he'd made a mistake in taking the job.''
Laycock still shudders when he talks about that trying period.
``I did the best I could do at the time,'' he said. ``I tried my best, and that's all I can do.
``The bottom line is I just did not really feel that was the right place, the right time and the right job for me. I let other factors weigh into it too strongly, and I made a mistake.
``Maybe I should have taken it. Maybe I didn't know enough about it. Maybe I would have been fine. I'll never know.
``I do know I'll never forget that. It was as tough a situation as I've ever been in. It stays in the back of your mind. It has affected the way I look at other situations.
``Maybe it's made me more hesitant. I don't want to go through that again. I just don't.
``Maybe if I deal with another school I'll have to. And that scares me.''
Regardless, the Boston College decision hasn't affected how other schools view him. Last winter Duke brought him on campus, and when Laycock pulled himself out of the running before a decision was made, Duke's president called Randolph and asked him to persuade Laycock to resubmit his name.
Randolph declined.
``If somebody wants a good coach, they'll come after Jimmye Laycock,'' Beamer said. ``The guy's a proven winner.''
A winner who's very much at home in Williamsburg. Laycock is from rural Loudon County, Va., and seems at peace in laid-back Williamsburg. He lives in Kingsmill and is building a new home in the Kingsmill area.
He divorced in the 1980s but remarried Deidre Connelly, a sports psychology consultant at William and Mary. He has four children - Melanie, 13, from his previous marriage and Michael, 4, Mary Louise, 2, and James, who was born last summer.
Laycock, 46, is fiercely secretive about his personal life, but acknowledges ``it's great'' to have been a father three times over since his 40th birthday.
``Your family life, like a football program, is what you make of it,'' he said. ``You've got to work at it.
``This wasn't always a great job. We had to work at it. It's the same with my life. I had to work at it.''
Laycock earns a salary, including bonuses, in excess of $100,000. He's a avid golfer who enjoys the many courses around Williamsburg.
``For some people, all that matters is moving up to a big-time program,'' Randolph said. ``It's different with Jimmye. Other things are more important to him.
``I think he's happy here.''
Though other schools doubtless will beckon in the offseason, friends of Laycock say there's only one that he covets - Virginia.
U.Va. athletic director Jim Copeland worked with Laycock when he was at William and Mary, and they remain friends. Laycock and U.Va. offensive coordinator Tom O'Brien are considered the prime candidates by alumni at U.Va. to replace George Welsh when he retires.
Laycock shrugs at that suggestion.
``I would certainly talk to them,'' he said. ``When that happens, if that happens, who can say?
``Like any coach, I re-evaluate my situation at the end of each season.
``People change, places change, rules change. If they reduce scholarships in I-AA, that's something that would concern me. It takes away from the type of football program you're operating.
``I like the level of football we're playing. I like Williamsburg. I have a good life.''
And the Tribe has a good coach. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock has been at William and Mary since 1980.
``I like the level of football we're playing. I like Williamsburg. I
have a good life.''
Graphic
THE LAYCOCK FILE
Age: 46
Hometown: Loudon County, Va.
Playing experience: William and Mary, 1967-69
Coaching experience: Offensive coordinator Newport News High
School and graduate assistant William and Mary, 1970; graduate
assistant Clemson, 1971-72; offensive backfield coach The Citadel,
1973-74; quarterbacks coach Memphis State, 1975-76; offensive
coordinator Clemson, 1977-79; head coach William and Mary,
1980-present.
Family: Married to Deidre Connelly, a sports consultant at
William and Mary. Has four children: Melanie (13), Michael (4), Mary
Louise (2) and James (infant).
by CNB