Jason Watson was named the third head coach of the University of Arkansas volleyball team on January 7, 2016, and has taken the program to historic heights ever since. He enters his ninth season with a 333-250 (.571) career record, 133-102 at Arkansas, and had led his teams to nine NCAA Tournament selections, the most recent in 2023.
The last season was the best yet for Watson at Arkansas, as the Hogs ended the 2023 slate at the Elite Eight, the furthest any Arkansas team has ever gone in an NCAA Tournament. Despite a 3-1 loss to the No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers, Arkansas was the only team to take a set from Nebraska through three rounds of tournament play. En route to the regional final in Lincoln, the Razorbacks took down the Kentucky Wildcats with a five-set victory in the Sweet 16, the first win over Kentucky for the program since 2012. Arkansas went into the NCAA Tournament as a 3-seed and hosted the first two rounds at Barnhill Arena for the first time since 2006.
In the regular season, Arkansas got out to a hot start at 18-2 in non-conference play, with the team’s only two losses to No. 1 Wisconsin, one of them in five sets. The Hogs went 15-3 in SEC play, their best record since 2003, which included a 2-0 record agianst Florida. The Razorbacks went to Gainesville on Oct. 29 and got their first win ever in the swamp, in sweeping fashion.
The Hogs concluded 2023 with a 28-6 record, the most wins since 1999 and the third straight 20-win season for the program. They were one of just two teams, along with Nebraska, to not drop in the AVCA Coaches Poll through 10 weeks, spent six weeks in the top 10, and reached the highest rank in program history at No. 8.
By season’s end, Watson was named the AVCA South Region Coach of the Year and SEC Co-Coach of the Year. After a stellar fifth year that saw her become the program all-time ace leader and No. 2 in program career kills with 2,075, Jill Gillen was named a Second Team All-American, All-South Region and All-SEC. Senior Taylor Head concluded her Arkansas career with Third Team All-America honors, another All-South Region nod, and was named All-SEC. Setter Hannah Hogue finished second in the country in total assists with 1,413, and received an All-America honorable mention along with All-South Region All-SEC, and SEC Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year nods. Fifth year outside hitter Maggie Cartwright was also named an All-South region honorable mention.
Watson has now left his mark on U.S, professional volleyball as Gillen and Cartwright were both chosen in the inaugural Pro Volleyball Federation draft in December of 2023. Gillen went on to play 79 sets with the Orlando Valkyries in the spring and recorded 240 kills, 205 digs, and 13 aces. After starting as a practice player, Cartwright was placed on the Omaha Supernovas active roster in February and was there as the Novas won the first-ever PVF Championship in May.
Razorback Nation showed the program more support than ever in 2023, as eight of the 10-highest attended matches in program history came last season, including a new single match high of 4,299 set on Aug. 30 against No. 1 Wisconsin. Arkansas averaged 2,358 fans in its 17 matches at Barnhill Arena, which ranked 16th nationally and second in the SEC.
In 2022, the Hogs began the year on a great note as they defeated the No. 8 Washington Huskies 3-1 at Barnhill Arena on Aug. 25. Arkansas won six of its next seven after that and re-entered the AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time in seven years on Sept. 13. The Razorbacks hosted No. 7 Georgia Tech later that week and took down the Yellow Jackets 3-1 for their highest ranked win since 2007. It marked the first time ever that Arkansas had two top 10 wins in a season, and surged the Hogs to No. 20 in the coaches poll, their highest ranking since 1999.
Arkansas continued to roll and finished the regular season 20-8, the team’s second consecutive 20-win season. Their hard work paid off as the Razorbacks were selected for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013, and the first time in Watson’s tenure at Arkansas. The Hogs took down Utah State 3-0 in round one, their first NCAA win since 2005. They were defeated by the Oregon Ducks in round two, bringing the season record to 21-9.
The Razorbacks had two All-SEC selections in Jill Gillen and Taylor Head, and the pair was also named AVCA All-South Region. Head garnered AVCA All-America Honorable Mention status to round out postseason accolades. Both Gillen and Head had tremendous seasons for the Hogs. Gillen entered the top five in program career kills and currently sits in fourth with 1,548, while Head became the 18th member of the Arkansas 1,000-kill club on Nov. 25, 2022. Setter Gracie Ryan concluded her Arkansas career in 2022 and finished with 3,470 assists, good for fourth in program history.
The 2021 slate marked Watson’s first postseason appearance at Arkansas, as the team accepted a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), in which the Hogs finished in the quarterfinals. The team posted a 20-11 overall record, its first 20-win season since 2012 and the most regular season wins since 2018. The Hogs led the SEC in service aces with 1.61 per set, and came within the top five in kills, assists, and digs.
Jill Gillen and Courtney Jackson earned All-SEC and All-SEC Freshman Team honors and Gillen and Gracie Ryan landed on the AVCA All-South Region rosters. Gillen also received SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year designation for the second time.
In his fifth season as skipper in the 2020-21 split season, Watson led the Razorbacks to 14 conference wins. He was honored with his first-ever SEC Coach of the Year award as Gillen was named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Taylor Head was named SEC Freshman of the Year. Gillen and Head also earned a spot on the All-SEC team and All-SEC Freshman Team respectively and went on to earn AVCA All-South Region recognition as well.
In 2019, the Razorbacks were predicted to finish two spots higher in the SEC than where they finished in 2018 – in large part due to its star freshman class. They went on to help Arkansas finish the 2019 season at 11-17, which included a three-match winning streak to close out the home slate. Watson helped recruit and sign Jill Gillen, who led the league’s freshmen in kills per set (3.74) and ranked seventh among all players.
In his second season, Watson oversaw a 10-win improvement from the previous year with the Razorbacks finishing the 2017 campaign with a 19-11 overall record, 9-9 mark in SEC play, and a No. 47 final RPI ranking.
Individually, senior Pilar Victoria led the NCAA with 5.47 kills per set and 6.08 points per set and earned AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and All-SEC honors. Additionally, she and setter Rachel Rippee collected AVCA All-South Region Honorable Mention accolades.
The Razorbacks matched their SEC output from the previous season with a 7-11 mark in league play during Watson’s first year in 2016, including six wins in their last nine matches of the year. Individually, senior Danielle Harbin emerged to finish third in the SEC with 4.22 kills per set on her way to AVCA All-South Region honors.
In eight years in Tempe, Ariz., Watson transformed ASU Volleyball from a perennial sub-.500 program into a postseason regular. In his last four seasons, the Sun Devils averaged more than 19 wins per season with four-consecutive bids to the NCAA Tournament. Watson also coached a pair of All-America performers, one in each of the past two seasons, for ASU’s first national honorees since 2000.
Arizona State began the 2015 campaign with a 15-0 record and reached as high as No. 5 in the AVCA Top 25 poll. The Sun Devils also opened conference play with their best start in the Pac- 10/12 era with four wins including the program’s first win over Stanford in 15 years.
In 2014, ASU opened the season with six straight wins on the way to a 20-14 record. The Sun Devils were ranked in each AVCA regular season poll. Making its third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, ASU defeated Texas A&M 3-1 to advance to the second round of the Tournament for the first time since 2006.
Watson led ASU to a 19-13 overall record in 2013 including a 3-0 upset of then-NCAA defending champion Texas. The Sun Devils started the season without dropping a set in their first seven matches. Making its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, ASU dropped a five-set match to BYU in the first round.
In 2012, the Sun Devil squad opened with an 11-2 record, the best start since 1992. The Sun Devils finished with 20 wins — the most in a single season at ASU since 1993. The nine conference wins equaled the most since 2000. ASU made the program’s 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and Watson became just the fifth coach from ASU to guide the Sun Devils to a NCAA postseason berth.
Watson arrived as the head coach at ASU in 2008. In 2013, he was also named head coach of the sand volleyball team when the sport was added to the athletics program.
In June 2015, Watson was selected by USA Volleyball to serve as the head coach of the U.S. Collegiate National Team on a six-match tour of China.
In his three seasons at the helm of the BYU program, Watson compiled a 74-18 (.804) overall record while leading BYU to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. During his first season as head coach, Watson was named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 25-4 record, the program’s best mark since 1998. In addition to leading BYU to the MWC regular-season title, Watson also helped lead the Cougars back to the NCAA Tournament.
In 2007, he led the Cougars to a 24-8 overall record and an Elite Eight finish. His team also concluded the year ranked 12th nationally, and were ranked as high as ninth during the season.
Watson previously amassed 11 years as an assistant coach at four universities. After an All-American playing career at BYU, Watson coached for two years under his former coach, Carl McGown, before beginning his career in women’s volleyball with extremely successful stints at Kansas State, Arkansas State, and Montana State.
Watson was a four-year starter at BYU from 1990-1994 and two-time captain. He graduated from BYU in 1995 with a degree in physical education and sports business management after leaving his native home of Homebush, Australia.
He and his wife, Larissa, have two sons and a daughter.
