Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin has officially assembled his inaugural staff with the addition of Bert Watts as outside linebackers and special teams coach.
Watts played at the University of California from 2000-2002 where he led the Bears’ defense with 80 tackles in his senior season. He returned to his alma mater in 2004 as a graduate assistant before traveling overseas in 2007 to join the Raiffeisen Vikings (Austria) as defensive coordinator. Watts spent one year with the Denver Broncos as a staff assistant before becoming the defensive coordinator at the University of California-Davis.
Watts spent four years at UC Davis specializing in defensive backs and in his first season he saw four of his players receive postseason acknowledgement from the Big Sky Conference. Seven more players received honors throughout his tenure.
He went on to join Fresno State where his defenses finished in the top ten of several statistical categories from 2017-2019. In 2018 Watts helped lead the 12-2 Bulldogs to the Mountain West Championship. Under his guidance, linebacker Jeff Allison was named the Mountain West Player of the Year that season as well.
Watts comes to Auburn from his latest tenure at Memphis where he served as assistant coach and specialized in coaching linebackers. The Tigers finished 8-3 and were ranked in the top-20 nationally in terms of red zone defense, turnovers gained, and fumbles recovered.
My family and I are extremely excited to join the Auburn family. Let’s get to work! @AuburnFootball #WarEagle
— Bert Watts (@Coach_Watts19) January 21, 2021
Harsin was pleased to add Watts to his staff, in his announcement Thursday afternoon he said the following,
“Bert is a great addition to round out our on-field coaching staff, overseeing our special teams unit and working with our outside linebackers and edge rushers. I coached against him during his time at Fresno State and I always had a tremendous amount of respect for his coaching style and abilities. Bert’s players have always been very well prepared, disciplined and executed at a high level.”
Watts is ecstatic about the move and is eager to get started,
“My family and I are excited to join the Auburn family and we’re grateful to Coach Harsin and his staff to be a part of the legacy of Auburn football. I’m thankful and appreciative to get to work with players that will trust us on a journey to success and I can’t wait to get started.”
Welcome to Auburn, Coach Watts!