Mike London
 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | William & Mary |
| Conference | CAA Football |
| Record | 29–21 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 9, 1960 West Point, New York, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1979–1982 | Richmond |
| 1983 | Dallas Cowboys |
| Position(s) | Defensive back |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1989–1990 | Richmond (OLB) |
| 1991–1994 | William & Mary (DL) |
| 1995–1996 | Richmond (OLB/RC) |
| 1997–2000 | Boston College (DL) |
| 2001 | Virginia (DL) |
| 2002–2004 | Virginia (DL/RC) |
| 2005 | Houston Texans (DL) |
| 2006–2007 | Virginia (DC/DL) |
| 2008–2009 | Richmond |
| 2010–2015 | Virginia |
| 2016 | Maryland (AHC/DL) |
| 2017–2018 | Howard |
| 2019–present | William & Mary |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 91–82 |
| Bowls | 0–1 |
| Tournaments | 6–2 (NCAA D-I playoffs) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 ACC Coach of the Year (2011) | |
Michael Wilson London Sr.
He has served in various coaching roles with Richmond, William & Mary, Boston College, and Virginia, as well as the Houston Texans. His most notable roles have come as defensive coordinator and later head coach at the University of Virginia, head coach at Howard University where in 2017 he coached his team to the largest point spread upset victory in college football history,[4] and previously as head coach at the University of Richmond, where his team won the NCAA Division I Football Championship in 2008.
Coaching career
Position coach
First hired as a
London worked closely with
Defensive coordinator
In 2006, London was named by Virginia coach
The next year his defense was perhaps even better given the scope of the UVA football program. A highlight of this season was when Virginia was scheduled to play the
Head coach
Richmond Spiders
- 2008 season
On January 19, 2008, Mike London was named the head coach of the Richmond Spiders. Previous coach
The 2008 Spiders would not lose another game. They rattled off nine straight victories including last-minute heroics against the William & Mary Tribe and Northern Iowa Panthers, a 33–13 dismantling of the heavily favored Appalachian State Mountaineers in Kidd Brewer Stadium, and culminating with a 24–7 blowout victory against the Montana Grizzlies in the NCAA Championship Game. In his first season, the University of Richmond had earned its first national championship in any sport.
- 2009 season
On September 5, 2009, Richmond upset the
The Spiders won the CAA regular season, but lost in the Quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament to Appalachian State. Just two days later, Mike London was announced as head football coach at the University of Virginia on December 7, 2009.
Virginia Cavaliers
- 2010 season
Following the termination of Al Groh, London was hired to coach the Virginia Cavaliers and initially awarded a five-year contract paying $1.7 million per year.[9] He is the third African-American head football coach in the ACC, behind Wake Forest's Jim Caldwell and Miami's Randy Shannon.[10] He is also the second African-American head coach of a major sport at Virginia; the first was former men's basketball coach Dave Leitao.
In London's first season with Virginia, his Cavaliers went 4–8, with two wins coming against I-FCS opponents.[11] The best win of the season was over then-#22 Miami.
Following the season, London enjoyed a strong recruiting class, pulling in what is widely regarded as UVA's best (and largest) recruiting class since Groh's first full season in 2002.[12]
- 2011 season
Having finished with a 4–8 overall record and having managed just one win in the ACC the previous season, London orchestrated a turnaround in 2011, taking the team to an 8–4 regular season record and a 5–3 mark in the conference. Signature wins in the 2011 campaign included upsets over previously undefeated and 12th-ranked
Following the regular season, London was named ACC Coach of the Year, receiving 31 votes, ahead of Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, who received 12 votes, and Clemson's Dabo Swinney, who received two votes.[13]
- 2012 season
After leading the Cavalier football program to a bowl game the year before, London led UVA to a disappointing 4–8 season. Highlights included wins over Penn State and Miami. The Cavaliers suffered a loss to rival Virginia Tech their final game of the season, making it the ninth year in a row UVA has failed to beat Virginia Tech.
- 2013 season
The Cavaliers won their opening game against BYU, then lost ten of the next eleven games, culminating in a 2–10 season. The University lost every game against ACC opponents. The team suffered lopsided loses to Oregon, Ball State and Duke. Despite not being able to win consistently, London was able to recruit a small but stellar class for the 2014 season headlined by consensus five-star prospects Andrew Brown and Quin Blanding.
- 2014 season
Despite an opening game loss to UCLA, Virginia began the season 4–2, including an upset of top-25 Louisville, in their first game as ACC rivals and their first meeting at all in twenty-five years. Virginia lost their next four games, but rebounded with a win against Miami, only to lose at Virginia Tech.
- 2015 season
On November 26, 2014, Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage confirmed that London would remain as coach for the 2015 season.[14]
After a 1–3 start in the 2015 season, including a September 25, 14-56 blowout loss to the Boise State University Broncos,[15] calls for London's resignation or termination began appearing in the media and elsewhere [16][17][18] The University had no comment to the rumors and press stories, and many college football pundits did not give the reports much long term credibility, including Mike London himself.[19][20] On November 29, 2015, after losing the last game of the season to Virginia Tech, London announced his resignation.[21]
Howard Bison
- 2017 season
London became Howard University's head coach prior to the start of the 2017 season.
- 2018 season
The 2018 season was less favorable for Coach London's Bison as the team finished the season 4–6, 4–3 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. However a bright spot for London was that his sophomore quarterback Caylin Newton was awarded 2018 MEAC Offensive Player of the Year.[25]
On November 19, head coach Mike London resigned to become the head coach at William & Mary, replacing Jimmye Laycock, who was the Tribe's football coach since 1980.[26] He finished at Howard with a winning two-year record of 11–10.
Personal life
His son, Brandon London, is a retired wide receiver who played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. His younger brother Paul London played defensive back for Virginia under George Welsh in the early 1990s. His daughter, Kristen London, played women's basketball at Virginia under famed former coach Debbie Ryan, and is currently playing professional football for the Denver Bandits of the Women's National Football Conference (WNFC). He is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa - The National Leadership Honor Society, and Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | Media° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colonial Athletic Association ) (2008–2009)
| |||||||||
| 2008 | Richmond | 13–3 | 6–2 | 3rd (South) | W NCAA Division I Championship | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2009 | Richmond | 11–2 | 7–1 | 1st (South) | L NCAA Division I Quarterfinals | 5 | 5 | ||
| Richmond: | 24–5 | 13–3 | |||||||
| Virginia Cavaliers (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2010–2015) | |||||||||
| 2010 | Virginia | 4–8 | 1–7 | T–5th (Coastal) | |||||
| 2011 | Virginia | 8–5 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Coastal) | L Chick-fil-A | ||||
| 2012 | Virginia | 4–8 | 2–6 | 6th (Coastal) | |||||
| 2013 | Virginia | 2–10 | 0–8 | 7th (Coastal) | |||||
| 2014 | Virginia | 5–7 | 3–5 | 7th (Coastal) | |||||
| 2015 | Virginia | 4–8 | 3–5 | 6th (Coastal) | |||||
| Virginia: | 27–46 | 14–34 | |||||||
| Howard Bison (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) (2017–2018) | |||||||||
| 2017 | Howard | 7–4 | 6–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2018 | Howard | 4–6 | 4–3 | T–4th | |||||
| Howard: | 11–10 | 11–6 | |||||||
| William & Mary Tribe (Colonial/Coastal Athletic Association) (2019–present) | |||||||||
| 2019 | William & Mary | 5–7 | 3–5 | T–9th | |||||
2020
|
William & Mary | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3rd(South) | |||||
| 2021 | William & Mary | 6–5 | 4–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 2022 | William & Mary | 11–2 | 7–1 | T–1st | L NCAA Division I Quarterfinal | 8 | 8 | ||
| 2023 | William & Mary | 6–5 | 4–4 | T–6th | |||||
| 2024 | William & Mary | 0–0 | 0–0 | ||||||
| William & Mary: | 29–21 | 19–16 | |||||||
| Total: | 91–82 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
References
- ^ "London named male coach of the year over Steelers Tomlin". Thecollegianur.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ "Young - London". Newport News Daily Press. February 16, 1997. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
- ^ "William & Mary hires former UVa coach London". November 19, 2018.
- ^ "Howard (+45) pulls CFB's biggest upset ever". September 3, 2017.
- ^ Carpenter, Les (September 1, 2009). "London's Calling: From Cop to Coach". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Breaking down the ACC". ESPN.com. May 9, 2007.
- ^ "Archived copy". www.virginiasports.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Mike London Named Richmond Head Football Coach". Archived from the original on July 23, 2011.
- ^ "London replaces Groh at Virginia". Associated Press via ESPN. December 9, 2009.
- ^ [1] Archived October 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Yanda, Steve (December 2, 2010). "Poll: Grading Mike London's first season as Virginia's HC". The Washington Post.
- ^ Kurz, Hank (February 2, 2011). "London gets Virginia's biggest class since 2002". Associated Press via USA Today.
- ^ "Virginia's London Named ACC Coach of the Year". AP via the ACC. November 29, 2011. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
- ^ "Head Coach Mike London to Return for 2015 Season". VirginiaSports.com. November 26, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
- ^ "Boise State vs. Virginia - Game Recap - September 25, 2015 - ESPN". Espn.go.com. September 25, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ Elder, Robert (September 26, 2015). "The beginning of the end for Mike London?". The Cavalier Daily. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ Robby Kalland. "Boise State blows out Virginia 56-14, Mike London's seat gets hotter". CBSSports.com. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ "Ben Kercheval on Twitter: "Mike London's Wikipedia page is interesting"". Twitter. September 26, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ Khurshudyan, Isabelle (December 14, 2012). "Virginia football Coach Mike London gives cold shoulder to the hot seat". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ "UVa football: Virginia's Mike London stays focused while ex-U.Va. QB Greyson Lambert soars at Georgia". Daily Press. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ "London resigns after 6-year stint with Virginia". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ "Newsroom".
- ^ "Maryland's Mike London hired as Howard head coach". January 6, 2017.
- ^ Thompson, Chris (September 3, 2017). "Cam Newton's Brother Led The Largest Point-Spread Upset In College Football History". deadspin.com. Deadspin. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ^ "Newton, Johnson Named MEAC Offensive, Defensive Players of Year".
- ^ "William & Mary names Mike London as 30th head football coach". www.wm.edu. College of William & Mary. November 19, 2018.
Coach Mike London was announced Nov. 19 as the next head coach of the William & Mary Football Team. London is no stranger to the Tribe, he served as assistant coach here earlier in his career.