with Watson, the NE borders expand

[huskerdavo]

LINCOLN - Take a map of the central United States and stick your finger on Nebraska's capital city.Click to Enlarge 

Nebraska First-Year Recruiting Coordinator Shawn Watson calls this the "state of Nebraska football."

Measure 500 miles in each direction. The resulting circle includes population centers such as Denver, Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Oklahoma City.

Shawn Watson has a name for this area. He calls it the "state of Nebraska football."

The Huskers' first-year recruiting coordinator has taken an innovative approach to his new job in much the same way that he pushed the envelope during six seasons as the offensive coordinator at Colorado.

Watson, 46, considers himself a creative thinker when it comes to recruiting. One of his first big ideas at NU came with the help of others, including Athletic Director Steve Pederson, and Watson expects it to produce immediate results.

"We want to create a state of Nebraska football within a 500-mile radius," said Watson, revved up to talk recruiting on a mid-July morning. "We think it's a great idea. We've got to get the players within that radius.

"That's the core of your class. And it represents a little bit of a new direction for us."

Even as NU continues to stress Texas, California and Florida recruiting, a renewed area of emphasis involves this circle around Lincoln. And the 500-mile figure is no random number; Oklahoma City, Denver, St. Louis and Minneapolis - with a combined metropolitan-area population of more than 9 million - all measure between 430 and 490 miles from Lincoln.

"We want all the kids in that area to know and continue to know what it means to be a part of Nebraska football," Watson said. "We want them to understand what direction we're headed.

"There needs to be an identification between Nebraska and great football. We want every player in that area to think that Nebraska has to be a place that he looks."

The initial idea sprung from conversations among Watson, coach Bill Callahan and Pederson. Watson said the coaches sought input from the athletic director, who formerly served as the Huskers' recruiting coordinator.

"I've always thought those states and areas within 500 miles of Lincoln should be treated and recruited like they're in-state," Pederson said.

Click to Enlarge 

Shawn Watson

"What Shawn brings, because of his experience, is a big vision about what can happen there. Coach Callahan, clearly, has high expectations and high goals for our recruiting. Shawn has been able to grab hold of things and, I think, will take it to a higher level."

Fifty-one of the 98 players on the Huskers' spring roster came from the newly defined target area. The region is home to eight of 22 newcomers set to begin practice next month and three of the first eight unofficial members of Nebraska's 2007 recruiting class.

The intent is not so much about increasing those roster numbers, Watson said, as it is to spread the NU message.

"You can look at it top to bottom and side to side," Watson said, "but it's always about people. The people inside those high schools want to see that we're committed. We're going to be very committed to making sure they know we want them, that we need them."

Watson, who also coaches tight ends at Nebraska, said the process already has started.

The NU coaches remain busy this summer at their "read and rank" process, in which the entire staff watches film and categorizes every potential recruit. Scholarship offers are largely determined at this point.

"I have never been part of a staff that is this thorough," Watson said. "That's a credit to Bill. This is actually an important time of year. Every time of year is important. The recruits don't go on vacation from us."

 

[huskernumerouno]

Nice article

 

[ttheKid1*18]

Intersting new approach to recruting. Hopefully it works out.

 

[Spartness]

Nothing against Downing, but Watson appears to be an upgrade, at the very least as a recruiter. Listening to him speak in front of the media, he sounds like a recruiting magnet and a players' coach. I'm very impressed.

 

[gamecocks]

4 rather large cities in that area. We should be able to get some pretty good recruits to go along with the ones that we can grab from Cali, Texas, and Florida.

 

[Eric the Red]

Another Watson Article

Where Are They Now?: Shawn Watson

by les winkeler

the southern

Former Saluki strong safety Shawn Watson now roams the sidelines as the tight ends coach for the University of Nebraska. Watson previously coached at Illinois, Miami of Ohio, Northwestern and Colorado.

(Provided)

A Rand McNally Atlas and the latest GPS technology would be useful in tracking Shawn Watson's football career.

Watson, a Carterville native, was a standout prep running back for the Lions in the late 1970s. The first stop in his career involved just a short jaunt to the west. Watson played strong safety for Rey Dempsey and Southern Illinois University.

After serving as a graduate assistant at SIU for one season, Watson began his itinerant ways.

He served in various coaching capacities at the University of Illinois from 1983-86. Watson left Illinois for the University of Miami (Ohio) and remained their until 1993.

His travels took him back home in 1994, when he served as the Salukis' head coach from 1994-96.

Following his tenure at SIU, his career veered slightly north, taking him to Northwestern University for two seasons. When Northwestern coach Gary Barnett was hired at the University of Colorado, Watson went along for the ride.

He stayed in Colorado from 2000-2005.

Currently, the Carterville native hangs his hat in Lincoln, Neb. He's the tight ends coach for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Amazingly, Watson turned down some other jobs along the way.

"I've been very fortunate," he said. "I've made a lot of professional decisions based on my two sons, making sure we got them through various parts of their lives - elementary school, junior high and high school - without moving.

"I actually turned down a head coaching job in the Mid-America Conference about three years ago."

And, Watson has had occasional feelers from the National Football League.

"I've had a couple opportunities," Watson said. "It's hard to leave a coordinator's job to be a position coach in the NFL. That's even more volatile than college coaching.

"I made all those decisions around my family. I just really enjoy college football, but the NFL has always intrigued me. I wouldn't say no to that now because both boys are out of high school."

One of Watson's sons, Aaron, is a wide receiver at SIU. He and his wife, Anita, have a daughter, Amber, and another son.

It's not hard for Watson to trace his success. It all goes right back to Carterville.

"I've been raised by my parents to follow my heart and don't be afraid to try things," he said. "If you don't jump in with both feet, you don't test yourself and as a result, you don't get any better.

"I've always lived by that. One of the things this profession has taught me is the relationships you build with people is a key to your success."

Again, that success can be traced directly back to Carterville.

"Mike Deck was my high school football coach," Watson said. "It seems everything I was raised by my parents was reinforced by coach Deck. He is definitely a life-long friend.

"Whenever I get into a jam, I know I can turn to him for advice. He won't tell me what I want to hear, he'll tell me what I need to hear. Those values you get from growing up in a small town, they made me."

And, those associations Watson fostered helped him land in Lincoln.

"The reason I'm at Nebraska is coach (Bill) Callahan," he said. "We shared an office when we worked together at Illinois. He's always been a mentor for me. He's taking care of me professionally.

"I've been fortunate. I've been in a unique circle of coaches. The tree I come off of is Mike White's staff at Illinois. There are so many guys that have done well in this profession. We owe it all to Mike. He was ahead of his time. As a result of that, we were ahead of our time."

Although he is currently happy to be at Nebraska, Watson fondly remembers his days as head coach at SIU. He was just 34 years old when he accepted the position.

"It was an awesome experience," he said. "I enjoyed every bit of it. I left Southern Illinois, I wanted to become a better head coach. I wanted to learn more."

He admitted that given his age and experience, the head coaching job was a bit overwhelming. "At first, it was," Watson said. "I think I grew into it. But, what I didn't have was a lot of patience. That's what I needed, a lot of patience. We were in a real interim mode."

Now, Watson said he would relish another head coaching opportunity. There are still lots of places in the atlas he hasn't seen.