Q&A with Springfield Central OC Bill Watson on trio of early UMass offers

It was a historic day for local recruits on Saturday, as UMass coach Walt Bell and Co. offered three players from the Bay State who have yet to play a high school snap.

Springfield Central quarterback William "Pop" Watson III, St. John's Prep safety/wide receiver and Lynn native Joenel Aguero, and Belmont Hill wide receiver Oluwakoleade "KO" Osinube will all be entering their freshman years at their respective schools with high expectations after performing in front of the UMass staff on its final camp of the summer.

We have seen all three over the course of the spring and summer compete well with older, more experienced players, but this level of early accolade is still quite unique, even though some programs are trending toward early attention more than ever before. Michigan offered BB&N linebacker Tyler Martin last season before he entered the ninth grade.

We reached out to Watson's father, Bill, who not only serves as Springfield Central's offensive coordinator, but coaches the American Youth Football Springfield Tigers program. Both Watson and Aguero performed under Watson's guidance with the Tigers, so the the latter was a natural person to reach out to.

Of Aguero, Watson had high praise and described him as both a playmaker and an "explosive hitter" with the pads on. Watson has only seen Osinube play basketball, but the youngster's length and hands stood out at the URI satellite camp.

William "Pop" Watson III and his father, Bill (courtesy photo)

For Watson, though, the emotional impact of getting the news about his son was something we wanted to ask him about, among other things.

Here is an edited version of that conversation.

MV: Proud papa, huh?

BW: Oh, yeah. It was a great day, man. I was actually on vacation in Mexico for about a week. And when the plane landed, my phone rang. That's how I got the news. So it was great. It was something great to come back home to.

MV: What was that feeling like?

BW: I was just happy for him. I was happy for him. He put in a lot of work over the years. Every now and then, you want someone to acknowledge, or just to say, "We see you working." That's what that offer kind of was for him.

I'm rejuvenated. His schedule's been crazy. You know, he plays two sports (basketball the other). He gets up at 8 in the morning. He lifts. Then he goes and runs. Then after that he'll have a 7-on-7 game, and then he'll have a basketball game, or an AAU practice. He'll go to Alabama for an Adidas (AAU) tournament, and then the day he comes back he's got a 7-on-7.

MV: Oh my God...

BW: And it's been like that for years. Even today, the day before he went to UMass, he went to Penn State. He didn't get back until 4:30 in the morning. He goes to sleep at 5, wakes up at 9 o'clock, gets into the car with Steve (Martin of Excel Sports Academy), gets in the car because I'm not here. So he goes to UMass. They leave here at 9:30 and he performs well enough for them to offer on four hours of sleep at the most. So he's a grinder. He's a worker. So for somebody to say, "We see that work and we love what you're doing, where you're at right now," and to offer him was special. To be honest, we all teared up. So it was a great feeling.

MV: Did you get a chance to talk to coach (Walt) Bell?

BW: No, I talked to (Angelo) Mirando, the quarterbacks coach. I didn't get a chance to talk to coach Bell. I've spoken to him in the past, sat in the office and stuff and watched with the quarterbacks. So I've met with him before and I love his system. The last time we were up there was for 7-on-7, so I had the chance to speak to him a little then.

So even then, I told those guys I love what they're doing and how aggressive they've been in Massachusetts. they haven't slow-played the talent out here. They're willing to offer early, and they're willing to fight for recruits. That really hasn't been the New England mentality since I've been out here the last 20 years. Coaches can know that a kid is good, and they won't offer him because they don't want to alert anyone else to the kid. So they won't offer until the last minute.

These (UMass) guys are coming in, they're identifying talent, they're offering, and they're willing to pull up their sleeves and fight for whoever it is they're going to get. I think it's going to pay dividends for them in the future, for sure.

MV: What did Mirando say to you about what he likes about Pop?

BW: He just loved the way he threw the ball. He threw the ball great, accurate. He liked his work ethic, and he was real coachable.

So he was kind of telling me those things. They had a chance to do some 7-on-7 a little bit, and he just had a great day throwing the football. He's been that way at all the one-day camps we've been to, had great days, and coaches have been on him.

He had a great day at BC. They were pulling him out and working with him one-on-one. He's kind of stood out wherever he's been even as a rising freshman, a ninth-grader. 

MV: Do you know the last time a Springfield kid has been offered before he entered high school?

BW: From what I understand, he's the first.

MV: With seniors Mahari Miller and Isaac Boston both coming back at quarterback for a defending Division 3 state champion, what's the dynamic for this coming season at that position? (The Golden Eagles open the season with games against Everett, Central Catholic, and Catholic Memorial)

BW: (Watson III) has taken the majority of the reps in 7-on-7, but they're all going to compete, and we'll do whatever is best for the team. As a staff, we'll make the decision based on what makes the most sense for the position and offers us the opportunity to be great at the end of the season. Whoever goes out there, it will be all about Central, Central football.

(l-r) Springfield Central's Joe Griffin, St. John's Prep's Joenel Aguero, and Springfield Central's William "Pop" Watson III all hold UMass scholarship offers. The Minutemen also extended an offer to Belmont Hill's Oluwakoleade "KO" Osinube on Saturday. (courtesy photo)