RICHMOND, Va. (WTKR) — Returning 17 starters from a team that broke a school record for regular season wins and won a conference championship seems like a recipe for heightened expectations.
William & Mary football is getting that treatment, tabbed to repeat as Coastal Athletic Association champions on Tuesday during CAA Media Day. The Tribe received 13 of 15 first-place votes .
As good as it was to hear, head coach Mike London is not breaking out the confetti.
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish. Our mindset is based on being hungry and being humble," London said. "There's a lot of unfinished business. We're not celebrating anything right now."
After a 10-win regular season, W&M won its first playoff game in seven years before bowing out in the FCS quarterfinal in a rout against Montana State. The 55-7 score still hits hard enough that Tribe defensive lineman Nate Lynn keeps the scoreboard as his phone's wallpaper.
"I'm not a guy who holds grudges, but that hasn't set with me well," Lynn said. "I can say that as a team, that left a bad taste in everybody's mouth, top to bottom."
"I'm happy that we have a bunch of those guys coming back," said running back Bronson Yoder. "We're going to be a great team and we're hungry. We're ready to win championships."
Tribe linebacker John Pius was named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. He recorded 11.5 sacks in 2022, earning a finalist spot for the Buck Buchanan Award, an honor given to the best defensive player in the FCS.
Additionally, seven W&M players made the All-CAA Preseason First-Team: Pius, Lynn, Yoder, offensive lineman Charles Grant, linebacker Isaiah Jones, and cornerbacks Jalen Jones and Ryan Poole.
William & Mary kicks off the season at Campbell on August 31.
Just a few miles down I64, Hampton is preparing for its second season in the CAA. The voters tabbing the Pirates to finish last in the conference.
Robert Prunty's group finished 4-7 last season. After a 3-0 start, HU went just 1-7 down the stretch, the lone win coming against UAlbany in conference play.
"Week-in and week-out, anybody can win," Prunty said. "Tough conference, great coaches. I think the biggest thing with us as a team, we started to gel and come together more as a team."
While many outside expect Hampton to play underdog, players like All-Conference preseason linebacker Qwahsin Townsel say the program is ready to move beyond that role.
"We're not going to pay too much attention to preseason rankings," Townsel said. "We naturally have a chip on our shoulder from last year knowing that we were all the way to the end of a lot of games. We know that the margin for error is slim."
"It's a lot of games that we could've came out and finished, and we didn't finish," said Pirates wide receiver Romon Copeland. "That's what our real, main focus is on. Just finishing and being smart about what we're doing."
Hampton opens the season with a neutral site game, facing Grambling at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. on September 2.
