William & Mary Tribe football, 1980–89

The William & Mary Tribe football teams represented The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The program was established in 1893 and serves as William & Mary's oldest athletic team. Their long-time football rival is the University of Richmond and their annual meeting is dubbed the I-64 Bowl, so named for the highway connecting the two nearby schools.

Jimmye Laycock, a former William & Mary Tribe starting quarterback from 1967–69, officially became the new head coach in 1980. He had previously worked as position and assistant coaches at various school for the 10 years prior to his first head coaching job, ironically at his alma mater. Laycock went 2–9–0 in 1980—his first season of what would eventually become the longest tenured and all-time winningest coach in school history. As of 2012, Laycock is still the head coach and is in his 33rd consecutive year at William & Mary.

Of the era's 10 seasons, three stand out as particularly noteworthy. In 1986, the Tribe finished with a then-school record nine wins (9–3–0) and an appearance in the Division I-AA playoffs. Though they would lose their first round game at home to Delaware, the season was a successful one.

Then, in 1988, William & Mary was selected as the inaugural American college football team to participate in the Epson Ivy Bowl, a special football game to be played against a team of all-stars from Japan. The Tribe traveled to Yokohama and easily won, 73–3. The game itself was started to try to spread the sport's popularity to other parts of the world.

In 1989, for the second time in four years, the Tribe qualified for the playoffs. The result was the same—a first round loss, this time to the Furman Paladins—but William & Mary still finished the season with an 8–3–1 record. Jimmye Laycock ended his first decade with a winning record (57–53–2).

1988
William & Mary became the first university to compete in the Epson Ivy Bowl in Yokohama, defeating a football team composed of Japanese all-stars, 73–3. The game occurred on January 8, 1989, but does not count toward official win-loss records. In order to participate in the game, however, the Tribe were forced to abstain from the Division I-AA playoffs that they had qualified for.

Decade totals

 * Final record: 57–53–2
 * Points scored: 2,439
 * Points against: 2,817
 * +/- point differential: –378