(Photo: Zac Pacleb/WCSN)
After eight seasons, 255 matches and four NCAA Tournament bids, Jason Watson’s tenure at Arizona State has come to an end as he accepted the head coaching job at Arkansas, announced by the Razorbacks’ team website.
“I don’t think it was prompted by any sense of dissatisfaction or frustration or anything on my job here at Arizona State,” Watson said. “I really have always enjoyed who I work with and who I work for and the support that I’ve received from (Vice President of Athletics) Ray Anderson, so it wasn’t that,
“And as I’ve told our team at Arizona State today, I love this team here, but on the depth chart, they’re just a little bit below my family, and I feel strongly that this position was the opportunity that best benefited our family at this point in time. But I leave here with no hard feelings. I leave here with the utmost respect for what’s going on here at Arizona State.”
Since arriving in Tempe in 2008, Watson coached the Sun Devils to a 126-129 record, and in the last four seasons, the Sun Devils went from a team living near the basement of the Pac-12 to one that beat every Pac-12 school from 2012 to 2015. ASU’s win over Stanford early in the 2015 season was the program’s first win over the Cardinal in 15 years.
The Sun Devils began the season on the second-best start in program history (15-0, 4-0 in the Pac-12) before season-ending injuries to outside hitter Macey Gardner and opposite Kizzy Ricedorff halted the momentum.
“It (leaving ASU) was hard,” Watson said. “There was some hard conversations, but each of them – and this speaks to their character; this speaks to the kind of people that they are – each of them expressed that they were appreciative of the opportunities that were here and were very, very happy for me, and Larissa, and for my kids that such an opportunity would present itself. They’re sad, as am I.”
Watson leaves behind a roster highlighted by six players who started matches in 2015 and an incoming trio of talented freshmen. Over the last few seasons, the Sun Devils were able to bring in top-notch recruiting classes as the program began to trend toward the top of the Pac-12.
ASU’s 78 wins spanning from 2012-2015 were the most since the Sun Devils won 80 from 1992-1995.
“It (leaving) was not easy,” Watson said. “It’s still not easy, and I don’t think it’s going to be easy for a while because it means so much, and I’m thankful that I was afforded the opportunity to come here and do what it is that we were able to do, but it’s not easy.
“It was important for me that the athletes at ASU understood that this decision was not driven by me not thinking that they had done something that would drive me to look elsewhere, that they weren’t working hard or they weren’t doing something. They’re a remarkable group that works incredibly hard, and they’re passionate about what they do, and they’re passionate about ASU.”
Watson mentioned that the hiring process happened “fairly quickly” after Arkansas contacted ASU before discussing the position with him. Watson and his wife then visited Arkansas campus in Fayetteville earlier in the week before being offered the position on Wednesday.
When Watson first arrived at ASU in 2008, he admitted that he had thought he committed “career suicide” due to the state of the program at the beginning of his tenure. Since then, he helped to build one of the better programs on the west coast and one with high hopes in the coming seasons.
“I leave here a better coach and a better person for having come through this experience,” Watson said. “I say that not as a cliche, and I say that without any sort of intent because the athletes that I’ve coached here have helped me become a coach that values the relationships, that strives to be better for my athletes.
“They have been the catalyst behind making a dramatic shift in the way I interact, the way I talk to them and to the way I try to be positive and support them. Hopefully, along the way, I’ve helped them as well, but they have had a profound influence in shaping the coach that I am today, and for that, I’d like to think it’s been a mutually beneficial relationships where both of us come out of this much better than we ended. I know for me, I’m much better now than I was when I got here eight years ago.”
Before arriving in Tempe, Watson spent three seasons at his alma mater BYU and led the Cougars to a 74-18 record and three consecutive tournament appearances. In his first season at the helm in Provo in 2005, Watson was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year after leading BYU to a 25-4 record, the program’s best since 1998.
Watson takes control of a program that went 17-13 in 2015 and missed the NCAA Tournament. Over the last three seasons, the Razorbacks haven’t surpassed nine wins in the SEC, and last season’s 17 wins were the most over that span. Watson said he hopes to arrive at Arkansas before its spring semester begins on January 19.
“I leave here (ASU) with the program in better shape than I found it, and I think it’s only going to get better,” Watson said. “I know they’re going to find a remarkable coach to come in here, and that coach is going to be lucky to take over a team full of quality and good volleyball players. I think the future is bright, and so maybe I’m going to be the lone Sun Devil volleyball fan in Fayetteville, Arkansas, but so be it. That will be great.”
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
