WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — The William & Mary football team comes into this upcoming season with a sense of urgency. They have championship hopes to go with a wealth of experience coming back including nine on defense. The Tribe players took it upon themselves to take ownership of what happened a season ago.
Instead of going home in most cases and doing individual workouts, Tribe players stay at school or near the area. "We wanted to be around the program. Just be around each other", says quarterback Hollis Mathis.
"It really helped build a team dynamic", says linebacker, Trey Watkins. "It helped push each other more."
Running back Bronson Yoder added, "It translated really well. A lot of guys are healthy. We're able to withstand a lot of difficult situations."
Last season William & Mary started off winning six of their first eight games only to lose their final three and just miss out on the FCS playoffs with a 6-5 record. It was that moment they felt collectively they had to change as a team and saw the difference this summer.
"There were guys that slept on guys couches. There were guys that drove whether it was from Richmond or from down in Virginia Beach to go to the workouts", says head coach Mike London.
One of the Tribe's key returnees is Nate Lynn who's a preseason CAA Defensive Player Of The Year candidate. He put it best saying, "Finishing, finishing, finishing. Finish everything we do. Bottom line is you can't let that happen again."
The Tribe opens the season on the road with a Friday September 2nd game at Charlotte. Game time is 7pm.