Matt Watts is in his third season at the helm of the UAH men's soccer program.
In 2014, Watts directed the Chargers to the team’s first national ranking since 1997 as the squad was ranked No. 21 after a 7-1 start en route to a GSC tournament semifinal appearance, and his team featured a conference-best seven All-GSC selections after finishing the year 13-4-2.
Additionally, Watts mentored five all-South Region honorees including defender John Imwalle who earned First Team Daktronics All-Region status.
The 2014 team was particularly strong in gutting out positive results with eight of the team’s 13 wins coming by one-goal margins, and five of those victories came in overtime. Particularly impressive was UAH’s extra-time victory against then-No. 3 Rollins, and the team delighted a packed Charger Park with a thrilling 2-1 overtime triumph over Delta State in the first-ever GSC tournament game on the Huntsville campus.
During his first year in the Rocket City, Watts produced a stunning turnaround, guiding the Chargers to a 10-7-1 record after the squad had won just one game in the 2012 year.
The Chargers finished third in the GSC in Watts’ debut season, and the team featured three All-Gulf South Conference selections and the GSC Freshman of the Year Ryo Suzuki. Additionally, under Watts’ tutelage, UAH had three players that earned all-region honors including Kyle Simmons who ranked among the nation's best in scoring as he placed 16th in the country in goals per game.
Watts came to Huntsville after spending the previous two seasons at Delta State University where he turned around the program in the short timeframe, taking the Statesmen to the championship game of the Gulf South Conference Tournament this past season while capturing GSC Coach of the Year honors. Delta State won four conference games during the 2012 year – a number that matched the total number of conference wins in the six years before Watts took over.
He mentored the 2012 GSC Co-Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Cauê Da Silva who also was named to the Daktronics All-America Honorable Mention team – all firsts at DSU.
Prior to his time in Cleveland, Miss., Watts was an assistant for Bill Elliott at the University of West Florida. There he aided in guiding the team to the 2010 conference title, and the Argos featured three all-conference selections and the Freshman of the Year.
Watts gained his first stint of collegiate coaching experience at the University of Mobile – his alma mater – during the 2009 season, and the team won the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference title that year.
During his playing days, Watts – a native of London, England – was twice named an All-American while playing at the University of Mobile where he helped lead the team to two NAIA National Tournaments and a GCAC championship. In two seasons at Mobile, Watts scored 11 goals and notched nine assists to total 31 points.
In addition to his All-America accolades, Watts was a two-time all-conference and all-region selection.
Prior to coming over to the United States, Watts played three seasons for the Norwich City Football Club.
