Dear Friends of Tribe Athletics,

The last few weeks have been an important reminder of the impact Tribe Athletics teams often have. The nation is buzzing about William & Mary Football – our current squad and a couple of former Tribe greats who are also doing big things in the National Football League.  

People are still talking about the Tribe's amazing rally in the final minute of its 35-32 road win over No. 7 Villanova in its Patriot League debut on August 28. The exhilarating comeback, which was broadcast live on ESPN+, led to a barrage of coverage from ESPN and its family of networks, the New York Times, CNN and Yahoo Sports. It was well-deserved attention for our hard-working student-athletes. Click the photo below for more on the game.  
 
We carried that momentum into a 22-15 victory over Delaware State in our home opener last Saturday, which featured a great atmosphere with more than 2,000 students in attendance! The team will take its 2-0 record and No. 16 national ranking on the road Saturday to face No. 8 Lehigh.

Also this week, two of our ultra-successful Football alumni take the next steps in their careers, as Mike Tomlin '95, L.H.D. '08 begins his tenure as a lead studio analyst on NBC's Football Night In America and Joe Brady '13 makes his debut as head coach of the Buffalo Bills. 
 
Coach Brady is the third former Tribe player under legendary head coach Jimmye Laycock '70 to become an NFL head coach, joining Sean McDermott '98 and Coach Tomlin. In true W&M form, Coach Tomlin is embracing the new challenge of being a television commentator after a superlative 19-year coaching career with the Pittsburgh Steelers that included a win in Super Bowl XLIII.  

We know both will do incredible things in their new endeavors, and we'll be watching every step of the way.

Coaching Milestones
Congratulations to a trio of William & Mary coaches for recently reaching milestones. 

• Field hockey coach Tess Ellis recorded her 100th career win in the Tribe's 5-2 home victory against Longwood last Friday. 

• First-year Volleyball coach Kellie Catanach Johnson secured her first career win with a thrilling 3-2 victory over host Virginia Tech at the Hokie Invitational on Friday, August 28. It was the Tribe's first win over the Hokies since 2000.
• Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Adam Smith made his W&M debut last Saturday by leading the Tribe men and women to a sweep at the Spider Alumni Open outside of Richmond. The women's team won the event for the first time since 2016 and the men took home their first win in the race since 2019.

Well done, coaches! We're so proud of you and your teams!   

Coach Johnson was recently a guest on the Tribe Unscripted podcast. Check out the interview by clicking the image below. 
 
Lord Botetourt Affair Auction 
The Lord Botetourt Affair is right around the corner! The William & Mary Athletics Foundation's signature fundraising event will take place on September 18, coinciding with the University's Family Weekend, and it will make its debut in the new state-of-the-art Mackesy Sports Performance Center. 

Tickets for the event are still available! For those who can't attend but are interested in the silent auction, there's also a ticket option for online mobile bidding. Some of the prizes up for grabs include rounds of golf at some outstanding courses, vacation getaways and, of course, one-of-a-kind Tribe memorabilia. Click the image below for more details!
  Notable

• Men's soccer forward Brown Huffard was named CAA Rookie of the Week for the third consecutive week after scoring the go-ahead goal in the Tribe's 2-0 win over College of Charleston on Saturday. Brown notched three goals and an assist in his first five games. 

• Volleyball player Cate Hatfield tallied a career-high 44 assists in W&M's five-set triumph over the Hokies on August 28. It was the most helpers in a single match by one of our players since 2021.  
• Football's Max Lipinski started the season on a tear, leading all of Division I with eight field goals in his first two contests, including a career-high 51-yarder against Delaware State. He has been the Patriot League's special teams player of the week two weeks running. 
• Tribe Football leads all Division I teams in turnovers gained (10) and turnover margin (+8) thanks to the efforts of players like defensive backs Cade Ellis and Branson Leduc-Mattox (pictured below). Cade tops the Patriot League with two interceptions, while Branson's six pass break-ups currently lead the nation! 

 

• Women's Golf posted a strong start to its new season, finishing as the runner-up at the Tribe Invitational at Kingsmill on Monday and Tuesday. Freshman Srihitha Mandava led the Tribe with a fourth-place finish and was one of four W&M players to finish in the top 10. The outstanding performance matches the program's best finish at its home fall tournament since 2015.
• The Women's Gymnastics team is a group of high achievers in the gym and the classroom. Eleven members of the team were honored as Scholastic All-Americans by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) – Catherine Bare, Melanie Faulkner, Melissa Gao, Ascha Laird, Olivia Mile, Michelle Ngo, Ashley Ruedy, Sophia Summers, Brynn Vetrano, Lily Walker and Sally Wood. 
• Sophomore Mia Abbey scored goals in each of the first three games of the season for the Women's Soccer team. Her assist against Appalachian State on August 30 pushed her team-leading points total to seven.  

 
The New Frontier
Last year Tribe Athletics took a big step into the future when we appointed Larry Pulley '74 as W&M's first Athletics general manager. Larry, who had recently retired as the dean of the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, graciously agreed to lend us his talents for 12 months to help us navigate the new normal of the transfer portal and roster management, NIL, data analytics and even AI! 

Larry will finish his term as GM at the end of October, but thankfully he will be staying with us as a consultant. I can't say enough about how his steady hand and his business-like approach have helped move us forward.

He has worked closely with me and our coaches to help shape what the permanent GM position will be. We are working with partners across the university in the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics, the Mason School of Business and Health Sciences to make data analytics a big part of the new position. Stay tuned for more information on that.

I'm thrilled that Larry will partner with us on future projects and that we will continue to benefit from his insight and advice. Thank you, Larry!

This Weekend
|I'll be on the road Saturday to see our Football team play at Lehigh. I'm excited to see all the Tribe alumni who will join me there. This weekend's home slate includes Women's Tennis in the Tribe Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. There's plenty of action coming up next week. You can see it all in the composite schedule linked below.
 
Go Tribe!




Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics