Leadership Role Comes Naturally To UMass QB Pop Watson
From the Springfield Tigers to Springfield Central and now UMass, Pop Watson has always been comfortable being the player teammates follow.
Ever since he was a Springfield Tiger, there was one quality that stood out about Pop Watson more than anything else.
More than his ability to throw a football, run with it or even kick it, Watson was a leader.
By the time he reached Springfield Central High School, college scouts could quibble about his height or debate how his game would translate to the next level. But there was one thing anybody who spent time around Watson could never question, players followed him.
Now back at UMass, fans are waiting to see what Watson can do as the Minutemen’s starting quarterback while his new teammates and coaches have already learned what so many around Springfield discovered years ago.
Leadership comes naturally to him.
“I’m comfortable in it,” Watson said after Monday’s preseason practice. “I feel like this is kind of how I’ve been all my life.”
That doesn’t mean Watson has always occupied the same role.
His three years at Virginia Tech represented something different. For the first time in his football career, Watson wasn’t the player an entire team looked toward to lead the way.
Still, he found his own way to lead.
“Virginia Tech was the first time I really wasn’t the main leader,” Watson said. “I still was a leader in my own way. I tried to come in and get the twos hyped. So me and the twos were real close. So I’ve always been a leader, it’s never stopped.
“Now it’s just kind of more attention to it now. ‘Okay, now Pop’s kind of leading the program.’”
That last part is something UMass is counting on.
Head coach Joe Harasymiak entered the offseason needing to find a new quarterback after the Minutemen struggled to find consistency at the position last season. But Harasymiak has made it clear he wasn’t simply looking for somebody capable of throwing the football.
He needed somebody capable of leading an almost entirely new team.
“I think the quarterback at any program has to be the leader,” Harasymiak said at the MAC Football Kickoff last month. “That was an issue for us last year at that position. Our entire quarterback room is brand new, the entire room.”
Watson quickly convinced Harasymiak he could provide both.
“He’s the son of a coach, you know he’s been raised the right way,” said Harasymiak, alluding to the fact that Watson’s father, Bill, coached him in youth and high school ball.
“He’s got great leadership qualities. Everybody gravitates towards him.”
Watson’s role is different at UMass than it ever was at Virginia Tech.
There was no prolonged quarterback competition waiting for him during preseason camp. He won’t be on the sidelines this season trying to stay locked in, not knowing when his time will come, or if it ever will.
Watson entered the spring as the firm QB1 and as the player UMass intends to focus its offense around and really its program around.
Watson embraces that as well as the responsibilities that are attached to it.
“Coming in and being the standard, I would say is the biggest difference,” he said. “I try to come in and set the bar for the room and for the offense and for the program as well, just coming in and every day trying to get one percent better and giving it my all, every rep. I feel like that’s kind of been the biggest difference between here and there.”
Setting that standard doesn’t mean Watson intends to become another coach on the field.
His leadership style is simple. He wants his teammates to play hard. He wants Harasymiak and offensive coordinator Max Warner to coach hard and the only thing he will demand is effort.
“Let the players play,” Watson said. “I emphasize effort. If you’re going out there and you’re half-stepping, that’s when I get mad because now it’s like you messing it up for the guy next to you.
“I allow the coaches to coach. I say that all the time, ‘Coach Warner, he’ll coach you on your route depth and all of that.’ You could have a post. If you run a dig and you ran it hard, I’m not going to be mad at you. We’re going to fix it. But as long as you give an effort, man, that’s all I be asking for out of these guys.”
That approach will be particularly important for this UMass team.
The Minutemen underwent a dramatic roster overhaul during the offseason, leaving Harasymiak and his staff with the challenge of turning a collection of returning players, transfers and freshmen into a cohesive team in a relatively short amount of time.
Watson believes that process has happened quickly.
“All I can say is it’s been fun, man,” he said. “Just me and these guys and building this type of bond so fast, I feel like it’s a special thing we have here, especially when everybody’s bought in, how everybody’s been bought in.
“I think the leaders on the team have been emphasizing that all year. So now that we’ve got the whole team on the same page, I feel like we’re going to be good.”
Ultimately, Watson understands he will be judged by how he plays and whether that equates to victories.
The Minutemen are putting considerable faith in Watson’s ability to provide the stability they lacked at quarterback last season. Warner believes Watson’s combination of passing ability and football instincts will give UMass a chance for dramatic improvements.
Harasymiak believes Watson’s ability to create when plays break down will provide a dimension they didn’t have consistently a year ago.
But before Watson takes his first snap of the season at Rutgers in a few weeks, the Minutemen have already seen part of what they hoped they were getting when the Springfield native decided to come home.
The arm, legs and playmaking ability will reveal themselves soon enough.
The leadership has been there all along.
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