LSU Gold

Greg Watson Season 2024

LSU
Greg Watson
Title
Assistant Coach
Email
gdwatson@lsu.edu
Phone
(225) 578-8627
Hometown
Las Vegas, Nev.
Alma Mater
Southern Utah (2008)

LSU track and field head coach Dennis Shaver announced the addition of assistant coach Greg Watson on Aug. 20, 2018. Watson came to Baton Rouge via Kansas State and he coaches LSU’s throwing unit.

Watson led junior Jake Norris to his best ever finish at the SEC conference meet in 2020, a second-place showing in the weight throw with a toss of 70’ 5.25” (21.47 meters). Watson had two women enter the LSU top-10 list in their respective events as well in 2020. Transfer Amber Hart registered a career best toss of 49’ 11” (15.21 meters) in the shot put, and freshman Emma Robbins moved into the No. 4 slot on the all-time LSU list in the weight throw with a heave of 61’ 11.75” (18.89 meters).

In 2019, Watson helped Jake Norris to a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw at the SEC Championships with a season best of 70.44 meters (231’ 1”). Norris advanced to the NCAA East Preliminaries in the hammer throw, and javelin throwers – Eli Gaughan and Andre Girouard – made it to NCAA prelims as well. Norris also scored points for LSU at the SEC indoor meet with a sixth-place showing. His career best weight throw of 21.82 meters (71’ 7.25”) that came at the LSU Twilight earned him his first ever appearance at the NCAA indoor championships and it made him the fourth-best weight thrower in LSU history.

No stranger to the coaching world, Watson came to LSU with a decade of coaching experience after stops at UNLV, Texas State and Kansas State. During his time as a coach, Watson has helped 13 throwers earn first team All-America distinctions that includes two national titles. While at Kansas State, Watson had two throwers – Dani Winters and Shadae Lawrence – win NCAA titles. Winters won her national title in the indoor shot put in 2016 with a Kansas State school record heave of 17.97 meters (58-11.50). Lawrence became the first Wildcat in program history to claim a national title in the discus at the 2017 NCAA Championships with a toss of 61.37 meters (201-04) after setting the school record in the event at the 2017 Big 12 Championships with a mark of 62.59 meters (205-04). For his efforts in 2017, Watson was named the 2017 USTFCCCA Midwestern Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

During his 10 years in the coaching profession, Watson has coached athletes to 23 All-America honors. Watson has helped two athletes – Amanda Bingson and the aforementioned Lawrence – make appearances at the Olympics. Lawrence represented her home country of Jamaica at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the discus throw, while Bingson, who trained under Watson at UNLV, was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic squad in the hammer throw.

Prior to his time at Kansas State, he spent two years at Texas State. During his time in San Marcos, he helped the Bobcats win three conference team championships while directly coaching eight individual conference champions to three school records. He coached Kelsey Titzman and Darian Brown to WAC Outdoor Field Performer of the Year honors in 2013, and Titzman also scooped up the WAC Indoor Field Performer of the Year accolades in 2013. Titzman earned a ninth-place finish at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the shot put with a toss of 16.60 meters (54-5.50).

After wrapping up his collegiate career in 2008 at Southern Utah University, Watson jumped right into the coaching profession and served as a volunteer assistant at UNLV. That’s where he tutored the future Olympian, Bingson, to the Mountain West Outstanding Performance Award in 2010 and 2011. Watson helped Bingson on her way to setting the American record in the hammer throw at the 2013 USATF Championships with a mark of 75.73 meters (248-05); the mark currently ranks as the third best in U.S. history. Bingson claimed back-to-back USATF national titles in 2013 and 2014.

His competition days at Southern Utah saw him set the school record in the hammer throw with a toss of 65.98 meters (216-06), which still stands to this day, in 2008. Watson had the pleasure of training under the guidance of world-renowned throws coach Anatoliy Bondarchuk. Watson won three Summit League titles between the weight and hammer throw.

Watson earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a minor in hospitality from Southern Utah University in 2008. He and his wife, Holly, have two sons, Owen and Casen, and are natives of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Coaching Career
UNLV – 2008-11
Texas State – 2011-13
Kansas State – 2013-2018
LSU – Present