By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

In August of 2018, Jimmye Laycock was starting his 39th and final season as head football coach at William & Mary. Isaiah Jones and Kevin Jarrell, both fresh out of high school, were part of his final recruiting class.

Plenty has changed since then. Laycock is enjoying retirement after a legendary career, and Mike London is heading into his fifth season at W&M. After a 4-6 record in Laycock's swansong, the Tribe is coming off an 11-2 finish and has been picked as high as fourth in this year's preseason polls.

Jones and Jarrell are still here as team captains heading into their sixth season — which computes to one-fourth of their lifespan. Jones has started 27 of his last 28 games and made arguably the biggest tackle of the 2022 season. Jarrell has started 24 of his last 25 after moving over from quarterback.

They make plays. Yet their presence alone is just as valuable.

"That IQ is a very intangible part of being a football player, especially at the linebacker position," said Tribe defensive end Nate Lynn. "There's not much they haven't seen in college football. It's easier for us to fly around when you know those backers will correct you."

Neither had played the position before coming to William & Mary, although Jones was at least on that side of the ball. In addition to being an option quarterback at La Salle College High outside of Philadelphia, he played free safety.

After redshirting in 2018, he played all 12 games. His one start came in the finale against Richmond, and he responded with nine tackles and two sacks. He's been a starter ever since, both at inside and outside backer.

"I really found home at inside backer," said Jones of his current spot. "I'm glad to be able to say we're running it back and we're trying to take the extra step this year."

With one more season still to play, Jones already has made two game-saving plays in his career.

The first came at Richmond in 2019. With the Spiders leading 15-8 midway through the fourth quarter, Jones' strip sack of quarterback Joe Mancuso set up Darius Fullwood's 3-yard touchdown return. The game went to overtime, and the Tribe won 21-15 on Hollis Mathis' touchdown pass to Zach Burdick.

The second came last fall against Rhode Island at Zable. The Rams had scored a touchdown on the final play from scrimmage to cut W&M's lead to 31-30. URI went for the win instead of overtime, and Jones' stop of quarterback Kasim Hill short of the goal line preserved the win -- and the Tribe's eventual CAA championship.

Jones is proud of those moments, but only to a point.

"I've been looking at film, and there have been plays where I've missed tackles," said Jones, who graduated last spring with a degree in kinesiology. "Like if you look back at the Hampton game, there were tackles I should have made. So I just want to be more consistent with my tackles."

Jarrell's path to starting linebacker is an unlikely one. He came to W&M as an option quarterback who accounted for 8,482 total yards at Monticello High in Charlottesville. But with London's hiring came a new offensive scheme, one that didn't suit Jarrell as well.

So after his redshirt year, Jarrell was approached by then-defensive coordinator Vincent Brown, who gauged his interest in switching to defense. Jarrell had seen some time at free safety at Monticello, but his coach had only one demand of him.

"He would tell me," Jarrell said, 'Just don't hurt yourself.'"

In his first game at linebacker, Jarrell intercepted a pass in the 2019 season opener. He had five stops against Richmond, the game Jones helped save. He started two of three games in the abbreviated spring season of '21 and all 11 games that fall.

In '22, Jarrell finished with 44 tackles, 2.5 behind the line of scrimmage. At Hampton University, he ended a scoring threat by recovering a fumble at the Tribe 2-yard line. Since W&M won 20-14, you could say it made a difference.

To state the obvious, high school quarterback to college linebacker was a challenging transition. As a true freshman, Jarrell was listed at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds. Now, he goes 6-1, 245.

"I played physical as a quarterback, but it's different being on the other side of things," said Jarrell, who is enrolled in the Mason School of Business. "I had been playing quarterback since I was 8 years old, so the change to something else was definitely hard for me.

"But it's the best thing that happened to me. It's given me a new love for the game. I want to get into coaching after this, and seeing the other side of the ball helped get me into that."

Of course, the best-known of William & Mary's linebackers is John Pius, the reigning CAA Defensive Player of the Year and a preseason All-American, on the outside. But together, Jones and Jarrell bolster the middle with ability, field savvy and leadership.

"Kevin was the number one vote getter for our team captain," London said. "During the summer, he worked our camps. He did stuff with the offense to learn why they do things, so he's a student of the game. He wants to be a coach.

"Last year, Isaiah played next to Trey Watkins, who was a team captain. Now he has the opportunity to be a focal point of how we do the defense because he makes the calls. His communication is going to be critical."

For their sixth and final season, Jones and Jarrell can't wait to get started. And each knows he can rely on the other.

"We have a pretty good understanding of what's going on and how formations can change," Jarrell said. "Putting that all together and having two guys who have been here, that allows us to lead."

Jones feels likewise.

"Kevin and I also played outside linebacker together," he said. "Now, having being in the inside backer room together again and work off each other and put two brains into one, it's really easy to work with Kevin. It's nice to have someone with that knowledge and intellect of the game."