As the William & Mary Football program continues through the final week of a historic season, this article is the second of five stories that celebrates William & Mary's 125th anniversary of football and features the decade of the 1980s.

Part 1: 1893-1979
 
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By Peter M. Kalison '57
Former sports information director at W&M, 1955-1957
 
A new and far brighter era of football at William & Mary began with the hiring of Jimmye Laycock as the school's head football coach for the 1980 season.  Laycock, a 1970 graduate
of W&M and a Virginia native, became the first alumnus to coach the team since Jackie Freeman back in the 1950s.
 
A quarterback under Marv Levy and Lou Holtz at W&M, Laycock returned to Williamsburg after successful assistant coaching stints at The Citadel under Bobby Ross and offensive coordinator of outstanding Clemson teams.  He brought with him a wide-open offensive system and an ability to recruit intelligent, talented players. And despite a paucity of talent upon his arrival and depleted financial support, he quickly showed Tribe fans that he could win with his entertaining, sophisticated schemes.  Additionally, Laycock's style of play began to attract top talent to his program.
 
The decade of the 1980s became the first winning decade at William & Mary in 40 years, dating back to the 1940s, as his teams won 57 games, lost 53 and tied 2.  The program became more than competitive against state and Southern Conference opponents and produced several outstanding upsets over big-time teams.  Alumni support, fan and student enthusiasm all rekindled with the start of the Laycock Era.
 
He was just 31 years old when he coached his first squad at W&M in 1980, making him the youngest head football coach in Division I football at that time.
 
His first year was difficult, with just three wins; but even then there were indications of future success.  His first win came on Oct. 11, 1980, in a comeback home victory over Dartmouth.  The Tribe fans discovered an exciting new quarterback in Chris Garrity.  Just a week later, his team recorded an upset road win over a nationally regarded Rutgers squad, 21-18.
 
Down 10-7 at halftime, W&M rode the passing of Garrity, who connected with WR Ed Schiefelbein for a crucial score, and defensive end Paul Tyner's two interceptions to power the improbable win.
 
The standard for winning under Laycock really arrived during the four-year group of teams, between the 1983-86 seasons; these squads strung together a winning record of 28-17, the first winning stretch of this kind since the great W&M teams of the 1940s.  This cohort featured W&M Athletics Hall of Fame standouts like WR Kurt Wrigley, DB Mark Kelso, OT Archie Harris, RB Michael "Pinball" Clemons, LB Dave Pocta and QB Stan Yagielllo.  Yagiello, from Livingston, N.J., established the standard for nearly every passing record in the school's annals.  Clemons, just 5-5 and perhaps 165 pounds had a sensational year in 1985, earning a first-team All-America with 714 yards rushing, 12 TDs and 70 pass receptions.  Kelso went on to play in four Super Bowls as defensive captain of the Buffalo Bills.  Harris made every All-America team for two of those years; at 6-6, 270 pounds he dominated defensive opponents.
 
A memorable victory took place in the 1984 season, a 23-21 win at No. 8 Delaware, the first win over a Blue Hen team since 1923. This game featured one of the great endings of a Tribe game. With the Tribe trailing 21-17 with just over a minute remaining, Yagiello helped fashion a 70-yard drive.  Facing a fourth-and-one on the Blue Hens' 18 and with just seven seconds remaining, he scrambled away from several defenders and found receiver Jeff Sanders in the end zone with no time remaining on the clock.
 
The 1985 team also defeated Delaware, 17-16, on a last-minute touchdown, Harvard for the first time, 21-14, Princeton, 33-28, and played in a wild, 28-14, win over Richmond.  That Richmond game saw one of the more incredible scenes ever at Cary Field; it was, remarkably, Homecoming despite the late November date, and, with 18,000 fans shoehorned into Cary Field, the William & Mary faithful pulled down the goal posts after the victory. The squad finished the season 7-4 and earned a No. 15 national ranking.
 
But, perhaps the best team of the decade, came along the next season, in 1986.  The group was led by a transfer senior quarterback from UVA, a lanky 6-4, 190-pound athlete named Ken Lambiotte.  Lambiotte came out and established himself immediately in the season opener by throwing three touchdowns for 303 yards in a 42-21 romp over Colgate.
 
Clemons was back for his senior year as was the imposing Archie Harris, playing his final year while attending W&M Law School.  Arriving with this team was an unknown freshman kicker from Canada named Steve Christie, who went on to set every Tribe field goal record and eventually played 15 years in the NFL.  Linebacker Dave Pocta, who set school tackle records, was one of the Tribe captains along with Clemons and Dave Szydlik.  And a fine receiver, Harry Mehre also arrived with this team.
 
W&M shutout Harvard 24-0 in Williamsburg and followed with a 44-34 wild win at Lehigh that featured a flea flicker touchdown pass thrown by Clemons to Mehre.
 
The season was highlighted by an impressive 24-18 road win against a Rich Gannon led Delaware team.  The profile victory vaulted William & Mary to No. 3 in the nation and the match-up of the elite quarterbacks saw Lambiotte outplay the future NFL starter by throwing three TD passes.
 
A close loss to JMU followed, but the Tribe rebounded the following week on Nov. 1 at UVA's Homecoming in Charlottesville.  Lambiotte's talents were never better showcased, as he led the squad to a remarkable 41-37 upset of Virginia before 40,000 stunned fans.  It was a statement win for Laycock and the program, with Lambiotte being named as Sports Illustrated's NCAA Player of the Week by throwing for three touchdowns (and 307 yards) and running for an additional pair of scores, gaining some sweet revenge over his old team. Christie also contributed two clutch field goals for the Tribe.
 
After beating Richmond, the team qualified for the I-AA Playoffs but was routed by Delaware in the rematch.  No doubt, however, this team, with a 9-3 mark, was a great Tribe team and an exciting one to watch.
 
With major graduation losses from the roster, records in 1987 and 1988 suffered some, but Laycock showed William & Mary could remain very competitive while rebuilding in posting 5-6 and 6-4-1 records against very tough schedules.
 
The 1987 season was highlighted by another upset, this time at Annapolis, a convincing 27-17 defeat of Navy, 20 years after the legendary upset of the Mids in 1967.  The Tribe led, 27-0, at halftime, silencing the Mids and the stadium.  Junior quarterback John Brosnahan led the offensive effort. Brosnahan was another of Laycock's talented quarterbacks and passed for 17 touchdowns and more than 2,000 yards during the season.
 
In 1988, the team's winning record reflected the restocking of talent with players like a new quarterback, Craig Argo, an exciting new back in Robert Green, another exciting ball carrier in fullback Tyrone Shelton, veteran receiver Mehre, kicker Christie, and a terrific offensive lineman, Scott Perkins.
 
The 1988 season was capped, however, by William & Mary's post-season bowl appearance in Tokyo, Japan at the Epson Ivy Bowl to play a team of Japanese all-stars.  Played on Jan. 9, 1989 and nationally telecast back to the United States, the game was arranged by W&M grad, Mark McCormack, the famed sports agent, to promote a sports-culture exchange between the nations.  W&M won, as expected, 73-3, as Robert Green starred with 106 yards rushing.  It was so successful that W&M was invited back after the 1992 season.
 
The 1989 season resulted in the second of the two exceptional teams of the decade, an 8-3-1 squad that defeated teams including Colgate, VMI, Boston University, JMU and Richmond.
 
Shelton and Green, with combined career rushing totals of more than 6,000 yards (Green-3,543 and Shelton-2,534) ran over and through opponents and formed one of the most imposing 1-2 running duos in school history. Argo had his best season, and receiver Alan Williams, along with Green, gave opponents fits with their playmaking abilities. Christie set Tribe field goal records, defensive end Alan Garlic and the great offensive guard Reggie White made many All-Conference and All-Americaa teams.
 
The Delaware game again provided a thrilling highlight, another come-from-behind effort, with Christie's 53-yard field goal in the final quarter providing the winning points.  Christie again provided a big win, with three field goals to help defeat JMU, 24-21.
 
The team defeated Richmond in the final regular season game, winning 22-10 at Cary, as the defense smothered the Spiders nationally ranked offense.  This team garnered W&M's second I-AA playoff invitation, and earned a trip to play at the defending National Champions, Furman. Once again, the team was defeated, this time 24-10.
 
But, playoff loss aside, it was a wonderful season for the Tribe.  Many predicted that the wealth of talent Laycock was bringing in promised even better days ahead.  This proved an accurate
prediction as W&M Football continued to soar in the 1990s.