By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
It's never been in
Lachlan Pitts' nature to complain. Working hard, keeping the right attitude, doing whatever his coaches asked of him … that would be his path to more involvement in William & Mary's passing game.
That has finally come for the Tribe's starting tight end. In the first 19 games of his career, Pitts had one catch on not many more targets. In his last three games, he has seven receptions for 116 yards and three touchdowns.
Pitts had a feeling he would be a bigger part of the offense this season. He had no idea it would be this much this soon.
"Being more involved is definitely more fun," said Pitts, who is working on his M.B.A. and has playing eligibility through the 2022 season. "I'm helping my team produce, and that's all I can ask for. I want to help them any way I can.
"Over the last two years, it's been mainly as a good in-line blocking tight end, and I was happy with the role I was in. Now, my coaches have trust in me to do both. That's all I can ask for."
Pitts' breakout came at Elon on Sept 25. Targeted four times, he had four catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns — each of which came in the red zone, where he's hard to miss at 6-foot-6, and 255 pounds.
Each of Pitts' seven catches this season has resulted in six points or a first down. He has more touchdown receptions than any other tight end in the Colonial Athletic Association.
And how about this little factoid? The last William & Mary tight end with more than three touchdown catches in a season was Drew Atchison with six in 2007.
"Lach's been a great example of a guy who puts his head down and works," W&M tight ends coach
Jack Armstrong said. "And he's been rewarded for it. Nobody deserves it more."
Pitts grew up in a serious football family. His father, Jim, was a wide receiver at South Carolina. His grandfather played at North Carolina, and his great-grandfather was a member of the Orange (N.J.) Tornadoes in the early NFL days.
Pitts' two older brothers also played college football — Colin was a tight end at Furman, Brian a defensive lineman at Albany. Lachlan said his mother, Linda, "is about to turn 61 is probably in better shape than I am."
Of Irish and Scottish heritage, the Pitts family is, as Linda puts it, "all things Celtic and Viking." Lachlan's name comes from a castle in Strathlachlan on the eastern coast Scotland.
Here's another factoid: Of the 2,600-plus names on William & Mary's all-time roster, there is only one Lachlan.
At Langley High in McLean, Pitts played behind Brian for two years at tight end. He took over as a junior and in his final season had 18 receptions. He also led the team in sacks as a defensive end.
Recruited by several CAA teams, Pitts chose William & Mary for basic reasons. He respected the program and the university's academic reputation. He liked that it was only 2½ hours from home. And it's where his parents got engaged.
After redshirting his first season, Pitts played in all 10 games with one start in 2018. Injuries limited his time as a sophomore, and then came the COVID season of 2020. He played in two games last spring and caught his first pass, which went for 17 yards.
With his mother's influence, Pitts had always taken weightlifting seriously. The pandemic limited that, at least in a team setting.
Kenny O'Mary, the Tribe's director of student athlete high performance, had been hired just before COVID shut everything down.
Once the team was allowed to get together again, Pitts made up for lost time.
"It was very refreshing," he said. "I love being in the weight room and working out with the team. Working out with Coach O'Mary, I definitely saw the results. I got bigger, I got heavier, and I got more athletic."
In this season's first two games, Pitts was targeted twice but both were incomplete. In week three at Colgate, his 20-yard reception set up the Tribe's third touchdown in a 27-7 win.
Then came Elon. On William & Mary's third possession, Pitts had catches of 32, 22 and 6 yards — the third for a touchdown. On the first drive of the third quarter, he caught a 10-yard scoring pass.
"The coaches wanted to get the tight ends more involved with the offense," Pitts said. "With (Anthony) Mague and Ry (Yates), who is going to be a great up-and-comer, having us involved in the passing game can be a good mismatch against defenses.
"It just kind of started clicking during the Elon game. So we've been utilizing it more since."
In last week's comeback win over Albany, Pitts caught an 11-yard touchdown pass that gave W&M a 24-21 lead with 14:55 left in the game. On the Tribe's next possession, his 15-yard reception set up first-and-goal and another touchdown.
"He's obviously a very big body, and when he gets going, he can move pretty well," Armstrong said. "He's a big target and the quarterbacks like it."
Pitts gained respect from coaches and teammates for not pouting when he wasn't being used in the passing game.
"Lachlan is a veteran player, and he handled it great," W&M coach
Mike London said. "He does a yeoman's job of saying, 'I'm the tight end, so I'll block, I'll catch, I'll do on the line or off the line.' He truly epitomizes a guy who says 'I just want to win.'"
