THE Ole Miss Spirit I heard Marquise Watson was promoted from graduate assistant to player personnel analyst on Coach Lane Kiffin’s football team. By sources, Watson finalized his new contract on Friday.
Sources told the Ole Miss Spirit that Watson turned down proposals from several schools of the Group of Five and a SEC program during this off-season to stay in Oxford. He spent the last season as a senior defensive assistant to the rebels and was promoted to interim defensive coach for Ole Miss’ victory over Indiana in the Outback Bowl after former defensive coach Deke Adams was released from office in December. It was speculated that Watson was being considered a strong candidate to fill the vacant position before the rebels hired SMU’s Randall Joyner.
Watson, 25, is widely regarded as a rising star in the coaching profession. Watson was selected for the 247Sports 30-Under-30 last September, indicative of the top 30 college football technical assistants under the age of 30.
Here’s what 247Sports said about Watson at the time of his selection: “Watson ended up as Bryant’s best all-time defender when he graduated in 2017. Two years later, he ascended as the program’s line-d coach and coordinator of running game, after serving as a running back trainer at Amherst College and as a GA at Rutgers. Now, Watson is at Ole Miss working with his former head coach at the school, Chris Partridge. Rebels. “
An Ole Miss source said: “He is a very good young coach and I am excited about his career. He will be one of the next great coaches for the Power Five ”.