William & Mary football team wants to go farther, while Hampton looks to get more physical

William & Mary’s football team wants to go farther. Hampton University’s wants to become deeper.

Those are the takeaways the area’s Colonial Athletic Association head coaches carried from the 2022 season and into their recently completed spring practices. They stand to reason.

William & Mary (11-2) enjoyed one of the best seasons in program history, rolling to an 11-1 start, a share of the CAA title and a 54-14 win over Gardner-Webb in the second round of the FCS playoffs. The Tribe’s joyride ended with a thud in the form of 55-7 loss at Montana State in the FCS quarterfinals.

“The experience of winning a co-CAA title gives us a benchmark that will help coming into this season,” Tribe coach Mike London said. “But that last game left a bad taste in our mouths, so we look forward to the opportunity to pursuing it again with a better result.”

Hampton (4-7) confounded the experts in a sense, entering the final minutes of six CAA games with a shot to win — a 20-14 loss to the Tribe included. Coach Robert Prunty addressed several areas in the spring he hopes will enable the Pirates to close better and improve on the 1-7 mark from their first CAA campaign.

“We’ve got to develop depth, especially on our offensive and defensive lines,” he said. “This is a very physical conference.

“We’re talking about a conference with five teams making the FCS playoffs — more than any other. We play four of them.”

Only two of the W&M’s CAA games will be against 2022 playoff participants, but it will face its annual FBS challenge when it travels to Scott Stadium on Oct. 7 to play Virginia.

Hampton

Prunty indicated that restocking the defensive line will be the Pirates’ biggest challenge moving forward. All four starters on a group led by KeShaun Moore have departed.

“We’re waiting for guys to emerge,” Prunty said Saturday when the Pirates conducted their spring game. “They’re all pretty much playing the same.”

Prunty would like to see a pass defense that ranked 11th in the CAA in efficiency and TD passes allowed (24) improve. He says a linebacker corps that returns Qwahsin Townsel — whose 100 tackles ranked No. 2 in the CAA — will be among the team’s strengths.

The biggest loss offensively for the Pirates is Jadakis Bonds, one of the best receivers in program history. Coming out of the spring, Prunty indicates the Pirates will attempt to make up for the loss with numbers that include locals Romon Copeland (Oscar Smith High), Kymari Gray (Phoebus) and Tyler Thompson (Woodside).

“You don’t replace a Jadakis, because he played at such a high level for four years,” Prunty said. “The biggest thing is getting the other guys to step up.”

A pair of inexperienced quarterbacks, Malcolm Mays and Chris Zellous, split time last year. Prunty saw improvement in their decision-making and fundamentals in the spring, thanks to offensive coordinator Zach Patterson.

They’ll work behind an offensive line that returns intact but, like everywhere on the team, could see some changes.

“I want to emphasize that I don’t see any starting positions locked up for anyone, and anyone who thinks that is in for a rude awakening,” Prunty said, noting that competition will highlight preseason practice in August.

William & Mary

The ascension of Bo Revell and Ras-I Dowling to co-defensive coordinators highlighted spring practice at William & Mary. Former DC Vincent Brown departed to become the head coach at CAA rival North Carolina A&T, but London said the transition was seamless.

“Revell coached the inside linebackers, a position Coach Brown played in the NFL, so they were collaborating there,” London said. “Dowling coordinated pass-game defense and collaborated with Coach Brown on that.

“There will be some tweaks to the defense, but the language, calls and checks are the same, so it’s not like there will be a new package. Both coordinators have relationships with our defensive players, so that will help.”

Those players include a pair of All-Americans in end Nate Lynn and linebacker John Pius. Both have enjoyed stints near the top nationally in sacks.

London says offensive right tackle Colby Sorsdal has a shot of being picked in the NFL draft. His departure will be offset by the return of Marcus Crowell, who missed much of 2022 with an injury. The other four interior line starters return, as do almost all of the key skill players.

Crowell is one of five team captains announced at the spring game. Lynn, All-CAA cornerback Ryan Poole, All-CAA running back Bronson Yoder and linebacker Kevin Jarrell are the others.

With the departure of only three starters on offense and four on defense — plus lots of other returning experience and a 15-man freshman class incoming — London has virtually disdained the NCAA transfer portal this year.

“Some programs build only through the portal now, but I haven’t abandoned taking high school kids,” London said. “We like getting good high school players who can grow up in our culture.”