Justin Watts, who was promoted to assistant head coach before the 2021 season, completed his ninth season as an App State assistant in 2023.
Watts spent four seasons (2015-18) as the Mountaineers' wide receivers coach before spending his fifth straight season coaching the tight ends in 2023. In 2018, he became App State's recruiting coordinator.
App State’s tight ends, who dealt with several injuries that caused extended absences in 2023, totaled eight touchdown catches while making 53 catches for 523 yards for a nine-win team that won the Sun Belt's East Division title.
Eli Wilson ranked among the Sun Belt leaders in catches (No. 2 with 34), receiving yards (No. 3 with 350) and receiving touchdowns (No. 2 with five) by a tight end. David Larkins added the first three touchdown catches of his career.
Led by All-Sun Belt selection and future Green Bay Packers player Henry Pearson in 2022, the tight ends were a critical piece of a high-scoring offense. Pearson tied for the Sun Belt lead among tight ends with five touchdown catches during the regular season while ranking second among league TEs in catches (25) and receiving yards (329) in the regular season.
Pearson, Miller Gibbs, Wilson and Larkins combined for 45 receptions, 504 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022.
With Watts in his first year as the assistant head coach in 2021, the Mountaineers posted a 10-victory regular season while winning a Sun Belt East Division title to follow a 9-3 mark in 2020 and a 13-1 record to pair with a top 20 final ranking in 2019.
At tight end, Pearson and Mike Evans were the leaders as App State often started with two tight ends, and the depth showed with Gibbs and Wilson catching touchdown passes in 2021.
Despite serious injuries to its top three tight ends in 2020, and playing one game with none of its top five tight ends, Watts developed the talent and depth to help App State’s tight ends catch 24 passes with five touchdowns over the final seven games and block well enough to contribute to the team’s No. 7 ranking in rushing yards per game (264.9). Tight ends accounted for five of App State’s nine receptions in the Myrtle Beach Bowl win, as Pearson had two touchdown catches, giving him four over the final six games.
From a recruiting standpoint, App State's class signed in December 2022 ranked No. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference from 247Sports, and the average prospect grade of 82.32 from On3.com was No. 2 in the Sun Belt. It also rated among the top 15 among schools from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt.
In the signing class added in December 2021, App State's average player rating of 83.6 from 247Sports.com set a program record. That beat the previous year’s record of 83.08, when App State’s Class of 2021 group ranked first among Sun Belt Conference schools and sixth among Group of 5 schools.
All 22 December 2020 signees earned a three-star rating from 247Sports. That year, the Mountaineers posted an overall FBS class ranking of 64th, the highest-ranked App State class by 247Sports since the FBS climb, and eight of the 15 highest-rated App State recruits in the history of the 247Sports rankings at the time were members of the 2021 class.
At the time, the 18-player recruiting class signed in 2019 included three of the six highest-rated commitments in App State's FBS history.
In helping App State win the inaugural Sun Belt Championship Game and win a fourth straight bowl game in 2018, Watts coached a young group that included three sophomore starters in Corey Sutton (eight touchdowns), Thomas Hennigan and Malik Williams.
Watts turned an inexperienced group of wide outs into a productive unit in 2016, setting the stage for a 2017 season in which App's wide receiver corps became a dynamic, deep, and explosive unit for senior quarterback Taylor Lamb. Ike Lewis developed into a first-team all-conference selection, and Thomas Hennigan ranked among the FBS leaders in TD catches by a true freshman receiver.
In 2016, eight different wide receivers notched touchdown receptions. Shaedon Meadors finished the season with 45 catches for 716 yards and two touchdowns and had big receptions early against Louisiana and New Mexico to set the tone on TD drives. He also landed on SportsCenter's Top 10 with a grab off the helmet of a Georgia Southern defensive back in App's 34-10 win on ESPNU in October. Junior Ike Lewis also blossomed, especially late, with 10 catches over the final four games. Then-junior Zy Letman also became a big-threat, hauling in a 37-yard touchdown in the win at Akron and a key third-down reception in the bowl win over Toledo.
In his first year, Watts helped send a veteran receiving core out on high notes despite not being a heavy passing team. Senior Simms McElfresh led the way with 466 yards and six touchdowns and was just ahead of senior Malachi Jones, who had 463 yards and three touchdowns. Rounding out the over-400-yards club, sophomore Shaedon Meadors had a break out year, getting 439 yards off 21 completions for three touchdowns.
Watts came to App State from Middle Tennessee, where he served as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for nine seasons (2006-14). During his time at Middle Tennessee, he helped lead the Blue Raiders to four bowl berths, three eight-win seasons and a Sun Belt Conference championship (2006).
Known at Middle Tennessee for developing deep corps of wideouts, Watts coached 29 different receivers that caught 25 passes or more in a season during his nine-year tenure in Murfreesboro. Four of his pupils rank in the top seven in Middle Tennessee history in career receptions and four are among the program’s all-time top 10 in career yardage.
As Middle Tennessee’s recruiting coordinator, Watts consistently led the efforts to land classes that ranked among the best in the Sun Belt and Conference USA.
Watts began his coaching career with two seasons as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Clemson (2001-02). During his stint as a G.A., he helped lead the Tigers to a pair of bowl berths.
He landed his first full-time coaching position at App State’s former Southern Conference rival, Chattanooga, where he coached the Mocs’ wide receivers for three seasons (2003-05). At UTC, he coached NCAA Division I FCS all-American Alonzo Nix, who set a single-season SoCon record with 90 receptions in 2003, and all-conference performer Emanuel Hassell, who led the league with 52 catches in 2005. In Watts’ final season at Chattanooga, the Mocs recorded their first winning season in eight years.
Watts owned the distinction of being one of only two student-athletes to ever be a five-year football letterwinner at Clemson, a feat that he accomplished as a wide receiver from 1996-2000 (he received a medical redshirt after sustaining a season-ending injury during the 1997 campaign). He caught 51 passes for 561 yards during his career and was honored as a scholar-athlete at the 1999 Peach Bowl awards luncheon. The Tigers earned bowl berths during four of his five seasons on the squad.
A Florence, S.C. native, Watts amassed 7,979 yards of total offense and accounted for 74 touchdowns as a prep quarterback at South Florence H.S. He received a B.S. in sports management from Clemson in 2000. Watts and his wife, Lauren, have a son, Chase, and a daughter, Kendall.
WATTS AT A GLANCE
Coaching Experience
2001-02: Clemson (Graduate assistant)
2003-05: Chattanooga (Wide receivers)
2006-14: Middle Tennessee (Wide receivers/Recruiting coordinator)
2015-17: App State (Wide receivers)
2018: App State (Wide receivers/Recruiting coordinator)
2019-20: App State (Tight ends/Recruiting coordinator)
2021-23: App State (Assistant head coach/Tight ends/Recruiting coordinator)
Playing Experience
1996-2000: Clemson (WR)
Alma Mater: Clemson, 2000
Hometown: Florence, S.C.
Birthdate: Oct. 1, 1977
Wife: Lauren (Remillard)
Son: Chase
Daughter: Kendall
Twitter: @Coach_JWatts
