By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

As graduation approached in the spring of 1977, Ivan Fears was preparing for a career in banking. Until fate, and the most unexpected of offers, intervened.

To backtrack: Fears had come to William & Mary as one of its first African-American football players in the fall of '73. A running back, he played two varsity seasons before a devastating knee injury prematurely ended his career.

Fears spent his senior year helping the coaching staff — "sort of a quality control guy," is how he remembers the gig. One day, head coach Jim Root pulled him aside for a question: Would he be interested in doing this for a career?

"I said, 'What … coaching? You serious?'" Fears said. "I don't know what he saw or thought, but he offered me a job as I was graduating. I was shocked, but I was extremely happy.

"I loved being a part of the game, and somewhere along the line, I decided this was what I wanted to do. And I've been doing it ever since."

Fears began his coaching career on Jim Root's staff in 1977 and finished it on Bill Belichick's in 2021. He coached 46 seasons, the last 23 with the New England Patriots. He has six Super Bowl rings — he keeps one at home and five in a safe deposit box.


Officially, Fears retired this past summer as the Patriots' running backs coach. But at 67, and still living about 10 miles from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., he's not ready to completely leave the game. He still goes in every day as a running backs consultant.

Fears, who will be honored after the first quarter during W&M's game against Rhode Island Saturday at Zable Stadium, is another member of the Tribe's NFL coaching tree. Surely you know about head coaches Mike Tomlin '95 of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Sean McDermott '98 of the Buffalo Bills.

Among the W&M alums currently on NFL staffs are two of Fears' former teammates. Mark Duffner '75 is a senior defensive assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals. Kevin Rogers '75 is a senior offensive assistant with the Cleveland Browns.

"They helped me through some tough times," Fears said. "I think for them, as it was for me, William & Mary was a great start in their coaching career. Maybe there is a little magic coming out of Williamsburg."

Fears grew up in the Belleville section of Suffolk, about 45 minutes from William & Mary's campus. He played at John Yeates High and drew plenty of recruiting attention. He visited Virginia and Virginia Tech, both bigger programs but also bigger campuses.

The latter didn't appeal to Fears. William & Mary's cozier environment did.

"He was a highly touted guy," said Rogers, a Tribe linebacker in those days. "A big running back with a lot of ability. Unfortunately, he got hurt early in his career, which really changed things."

The way Fears remembers it, he first injured his knee in a JV game as a freshman. According to data from that era, he rushed for 392 yards on 73 carries in his sophomore and junior seasons. But the knee finally gave out, and there would be no senior season — not in uniform, anyway.

"Basically, I lost everything in my knee," Fears said. "They had to do real reconstructive work, and my career was over."

There were two saving graces. One came when Root asked him to help from the sideline during his senior year. That led to a job offer, which led to a career.

The second was love. Fears met Beverly Wallace at a Black Student Organization event when he was a junior and she a freshman. She was from Portsmouth, a stone's throw from Suffolk, but until then they didn't know one another.

"I walked her home and got to do some talking," he said. "She locked me out of the building and left me on the street, so we were off a good start."

Four years later, right after Beverly graduated in '79, they were married. Five months after that, Root and his staff were let go.

"It was married in June," Fears said, "and fired in November."

Fears wasn't unemployed long. The following season, he joined Frank Maloney's staff at Syracuse ("the coldest place on Earth," Fears called it). Maloney was fired after the '80 season but his replacement, Dick MacPherson, kept Fears on his staff.

In 1987, MacPherson's seventh season, Syracuse went 11-0-1 and finished No. 4 in both final polls. His star on the rise, MacPherson was hired as the New England Patriots' head coach in 1991. He brought Fears with him.

After the Patriots went 8-24 in his two seasons, MacPherson was fired. Fears landed on his feet on Dave Wannstedt's staff with the Chicago Bears. But after back-to-back 4-12 finishes, Wannstedt was fired in 1998.

Fears returned to New England, this time as Pete Carroll's receivers coach. Despite a 27-21 record and two playoff appearances, Carroll was let go after three seasons.

Now what?

Enter 48-year-old Bill Belichick, who had been the Cleveland Browns' head coach from 1991-95 when Fears was in Chicago. In those days, the Bears and Browns used to hold joint practices during summer camp.

"He had a chance to see my guys play and perform," Fears said. "That all worked out in my favor."

You know the rest of the story. After a 5-11 finish in 2000, the Patriots went 232-72 and won six Super Bowls over the next 19 seasons. No other team has won more than two in that span.

"Six Super Bowls — my god," Rogers said. "That's unbelievable. And just working at one place for 20 years is a major accomplishment."

It was 23 consecutive years, from 1999-2021, but Rogers is right: that's a major accomplishment. More than anything, Fears didn't want to uproot his family — he and Beverly have three children — every couple of years.

"My kids were to the age where every move was becoming more and more an issue," he said. "I promised myself if I had a chance to keep my family in one place, that's what I'd like to do. Luckily, we were winning a lot, and that made it possible."

Ivan and Beverly have returned to William & Mary over the years, but because of his schedule, never for a football game. That will change Saturday as the No. 10/12 Tribe plays No. 17/18 Rhode Island at Zable.

"I appreciate this opportunity from Mike and the staff," Fears said, referring to W&M coach Mike London. "We've been by before in the summer, but seeing it on a game day in the fall, this will be skin tingling. We're looking forward to this."