Heading into his 35th year of coaching both track and field and cross country at the collegiate level, ETSU’s George Watts is showing no signs of slowing the pace.
Watts, the director of track and field and cross country for the Bucs, has captured numerous accolades as a runner for University of Tennessee, including a record for the three-mile time in the 1978 Southeastern Conference indoor meet, a school record that stands today.
“I’ve been part of the college [scene] as an athlete or a coach basically since 1975, which was my freshman year of college,” Watts said. “I tried a lot of different sports and found that I was pretty good or better at running than anything else.”
After a decorated career of profound success on the track, Watts graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1983 and quickly moved into assistant coaching there in 1985.
“I think as a student-athlete … I always thought I was going to be a coach,” Watts said. “I thought maybe I’d be a high school track and field coach, but [the] opportunity presented itself in 1985.”
“I started working at UT for very little money,” Watts said of his beginnings as an assistant coach. “But I dove in and did everything that was asked of me. I just wanted to work hard.”
Watts took the post as director of both men’s and women’s track and field and cross country for the Bucs in August 2012. Since then, all four squads have found tremendous success, including breaking 28 records in both indoor and outdoor track and field events.
Despite his track and field and cross country teams treading through uncertain times, Watts expressed confidence that when spring rolls around and it is time to compete, his athletes will be ready.
“I think our athletes in general are pretty enthusiastic about training, even though there’s a little unknown as to when we might compete going forward,” Watts said. “Of course, it’s not the easiest thing, but we’re working pretty hard [in the] early part of the year here.”
“I’m confident that when the opportunity presents itself that we will be ready to compete, and I think we’ll look forward to it for sure.”
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