Tribe’s legends of coaching pull for McDermott
Already supported by Laycock, Bills coach has taken guidance from Buffalo great Levy
Being a fan is sometimes an uncomfortable role for William & Mary football coaching legends Marv Levy and Jimmye Laycock. That was true this past weekend, when their former players and coaches butted heads in the Buffalo Bills’ playoff win over the Indianapolis Colts.
It won’t keep either from being glued to their televisions tonight, when Bills head coach Sean McDermott attempts to lead the franchise to victory over the Baltimore
Ravens and into its first AFC championship game since Levy’s 1993 Bills.
McDermott, who played for William
& Mary and served as Laycock’s graduate assistant coach with the Tribe in 1998, is the tie that binds.
Levy, 95, coached the Bills to four
Super Bowls in his 12 seasons (1986-97) and capped his football career in 200607 as their general manager. But it was the William & Mary connection that prompted Levy — the Tribe’s coach from 1964-68 — to forge a friendship with McDermott, now in his fourth year as Buffalo’s head coach.
“The William & Mary tie is what sparked my wanting to get in touch with him initially,” Levy said this week. “Over time, he’s called me for a little advice or input on certain things in the organization and we began a back-and-forth.
“I’m very impressed with him. He’s a high-principled guy and I think he exemplifies what a coach should be.”
Laycock, 72, saw that when McDermott walked on to his 1994 team. Laycock, the Tribe’s head coach for 39 seasons (1980-2018), soon offered
McDermott a scholarship and, upon his graduation in 1998, made him a graduate assistant coach.
“He was an overachiever,” Laycock said of McDermott, an All-Yankee Conference safety in 1997. “He was a physical player, but he was like a coach in the secondary who knew where everybody was supposed to be.
“That’s why I kept him on after he graduated. It was very obvious he had what it takes to be a coach.
“He’s very level-headed, very smart and very good at making decisions, but he keeps his emotions on a pretty even keel. I had no doubt he’d be successful.”
But even McDermott’s success — the Bills are 14-3 this season and in the playoffs for the third time in his four seasons — did not make it a slam dunk for Levy or Laycock to root for his team last week. Both former Tribe coaches have multiple connections with the Colts.
“Frank Reich was one of my quarterbacks during my days in Buffalo,” Levy said of the Colts’ current head coach, famous for leading Levy’s ’92 Bills back from a 35-3 deficit to a playoff victory. “I
had difficulty watching that (Indianapolis-Buffalo) game last weekend.
“When a game like that is over, I feel great for someone and I feel remorse for someone.”
Laycock’s first impression of the playoff game last week is how well McDermott coached.
“I think it really showed up how well he managed the ballgame, how he managed the time and the clock and did things the right way,” Laycock said. “He does a great job of being in control, making good decisions and being confident about what he does.
“I couldn’t be happier for him.” But he felt some sadness for Colts defensive backs coach Alan Williams, who played for him at W&M in the late 1990s. He felt bad, too, for Colts long snapper Luke Rhodes, who played for him at W&M just five years ago.
“I never got to watch much of the NFL before retirement, but I’ve told (Pittsburgh Steelers coach) Mike Tomlin (who played for Laycock at W&M in the early 1990s) and Sean McDermott
they’ve messed me up by turning me into a fan,” Laycock said. “Like a fan, I’m living and dying on every call.
“I was on the edge of my seat watching Sean’s game against the Colts, but I was a little torn, too.”
Neither coach will experience that kind of conflict this weekend, when McDermott’s Bills host the Ravens in the divisional round. Levy is all-in rooting for the Bills to get the two more wins that would put them in the Super Bowl for the first time since his teams made it four consecutive seasons (199093).
“I think the fans in Buffalo are ecstatic,” Levy said. “I’m hearing from so many people that the city is just on fire with enthusiasm.
“They rallied behind us when we lost those Super Bowls and are part of the reason that inspired us to get back. They’re the best.”
Levy and Laycock both laugh at the idea of offering any advice ahead of tonight’s game to McDermott — whose offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll, was a volunteer assistant at W&M in 1997 for Laycock. They acknowledge a big key will be containing Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
“Buffalo better get as many guys to the football as they can because he’s a heck of a runner and he’s become a good passer,” Laycock said of Jackson. “You can’t expect one guy to make a play on Lamar, so they really better work on pursuit.”
McDermott’s ultimate pursuit for a Bills franchise on the rise is the Super Bowl ring that would add to William & Mary’s growing football lore.
“It’s strange because it’s not a very large school,” Levy said of W&M football success, which includes Laycock products Mark Kelso and Steve Christie helping Buffalo win four consecutive AFC titles.
“But what impressed me most, coaching five of my 47 years there, is that William & Mary players are the essence of the student-athlete.
“It’s a high-principled, expertly run institution.”