UNLV
UNLV cornerbacks coach Tre Watson previously worked at Oregon with first-year UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo, who was the Ducks’ offensive coordinator the past three seasons.
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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Tre Watson’s college football team at Central Washington was holding a practice at the University of Oregon. Watson, a sophomore defensive back, looked around the stadium and came to a realization: “I shouldn’t just be practicing here. I should be playing here,” he said.
Watson would leave the Division II program determined to follow those big-conference aspirations. A Seattle native, he set his eyes on playing for the hometown University of Washington.
Coaches at that level are consistently contacted by players who feel they were overlooked in recruiting and want to join the program. Watson had a plan to get on their radar.
He showed up at each of Washington’s 15 spring practices, most of which were in the rain, to get the attention of coach Steve Sarkisian. But “he brushed me off every day,” Watson said.
Coaches soon realized he was serious — and that he could play — and invited him to join the program as a walk-on. After spending one season as a redshirt, and dominating on the scout team, he started for parts of two seasons in the Washington secondary as part of a football journey that last winter brought him to UNLV as the cornerbacks coach.
At age 29, Watson is considered one of the game’s best young coaches, earning a spot last month on the 24/7 Sports 30Under30 ranking of coaches. That fight he used in going from Division II to starting in the Pac-12 Conference is similar to how he coaches.
In a photo posted to his social media, Watson is seen jumping high in the air after a defensive stop by one of his Oregon players. In the excitement, which there was plenty of during his two years as a graduate assistant as Oregon, he nearly jumped higher than the player. He was noted for bringing the same passion to other aspects of coaching, whether that’s in practice or becoming animated when talking to recruits.
“That’s me all of the time,” he said.
Donte Williams, one of his coaches at Washington, would urge him to consider a profession in coaching. He hounded him, actually.
Williams, who spent the past two seasons at Oregon before leaving for USC, helped get Watson on the Oregon staff as a graduate assistant in the secondary. At Oregon, Watson met first-year UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo, who was the Ducks’ offensive coordinator the past three seasons.
“The greatest thing about coaches is they see something in you that you don’t see about yourself,” Watson said. “(Williams) would always tell me, ‘You should coach, you should coach.’”
Watson did a little more coaching than most graduate assistants, working directly with players in Oregon’s nickel defense — five defensive backs. Oregon led the Pac-12 in interceptions in winning the league title and Rose Bowl. Along the way, a coaching star was born in Watson.
“Watson spent the last two years as a graduate assistant at Oregon, where he worked with the defensive backs, many of which are likely to be drafted come 2021,” 24/7 Sports wrote about Watson. “Sources around that program say Watson made a huge impact in that room.”
Watson didn’t realize it at the time, but he spent two years interviewing for the UNLV job while working alongside Arroyo. It’s rare to go from being a graduate assistant to a position coach at a mid-major conference school, but Arroyo sensed Watson would be up for the challenge.
Watson knows firsthand how powerful the player-coach relationship can be, especially when looking at his bond with Williams and how it helped get into the profession. The relationship isn’t limited to an athlete’s time in college, Watson refreshingly says. It’s a lifetime bond.
“I am here to develop you as a young man and a football player,” he said. “I’m here to challenge you.”
The challenge at UNLV is something that excites Watson.
The program is projected to finish near the bottom of the Mountain West and has appeared in just five all-time bowl games. But Watson will tell you times are changing — new stadium, new coaching staff and new optimism.
The season, because of the pandemic, begins in three weeks. It couldn’t come faster.
“The support has been amazing,” Watson said. “From academics to our administration, and all across the board. There are a lot of people putting their best foot forward for this program to get it to where it needs to be.”
Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21
