Eastern Oregon University Athletics

Head Coach | 5th Season | 22-34-7 (.404)

Jessy Watson enters his tenth season overall with Mountaineer Men's Soccer and fifth as the head coach in 2024. He joined the Eastern Oregon University men's soccer program in 2015 as the head assistant coach when the program began. During this time with the Mountaineers, he has worked alongside three separate head coaches and was key in the programs early successes. He was named the program's fourth head coach in February 2020.

2023: The Mountaineers ended the 2023 season with an overall record of 3-9-5, finishing 3-7-3 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. 

2022: Eastern posted a 9-8-2 overall record and went 6-6-1 in CCC play. The team earned a bid to the CCC tournament as the seventh seed before falling in the quarterfinals. The Mounties were 6-4-1 at home, 3-3 away and 0-1-1 in neutral matches. Eastern posted 8 shutouts on the season. 

2021: Watson's squad posted a 6-10-0 overall record and went 6-7-0 in CCC play. The team finished ninth overall in the standings, missing the conference tournament by just one spot. For the Mounties, four of their six wins came via shutout fashion.  Key wins included a 3-1 victory over College of Idaho on the road and a 6-0 shutout over Walla Walla on Senior Day. Eastern had a trio of player garner All-CCC honors. Goalkeeper Dalton Mauzay was tabbed to the Second Team, while Erick Diaz and Carlos Murillo were both named Honorable Mention. 

2020: In his first season at the helm, Watson led the Mountaineers to an overall record of 4-7-0 and 3-5-0 in CCC East Division play as the team played in the 2020 season in the spring of 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Watson picked up his first win as Head Coach of the Eastern Oregon men’s soccer program on February 28, 2021 with a 2-0 victory over Northwest University inside Community Stadium. The Mountaineers had three All-CCC selections in 2020 with Patrick Larsen and Dillon Van Rensburg being named to the Second Team, while Rudy Salinas-Solorio earned Honorable Mention Honors.

In his first five seasons as the top assistant for the men's program, Watson helped guide the Mountaineers to a 46-37-9 overall record and a 36-28-5 in CCC play. The 2018 squad for EOU posted the best record in the program's young history with an 11-4-4 mark and was 8-2-3 in league play. In 2019, Watson helped guide the Mountaineer to its first ever appearance in the NAIA National Tournament with an at-large berth after making it the CCC Tournament Championship match for the first time in program history. 20 Mountaineers garnered All-CCC selections in his time as the top assitant as well.

While Watson served in the Marines he played for the All-Marine soccer team, and was a selection for the All-Armed Forces Team in 1993. Watson coached his unit team to the Okinawan all Island Championship in 1992, defeating the four-year reigning champions. In 1995, Watson played in the SoCal Premier League before moving back to Oregon. . 

Coach Watson holds several licenses/diplomas from the United Soccer Coaches association, Watson holds a National Diploma (2006), Advanced National Diploma (2006), Premiere Diploma (2008), Futsal level I (2016), and a Technical Development Topics Diploma (2017).   

A native of La Grande, Watson is married to his wife, Heather Watson, who is the EOU Cheer & Dance Head Coach. The couple have four daughters.

“My coaching philosophy is built around the long-term success of our players. We want to win on the field more than anyone, but we want to do so in the right way. Our goal is to play a style of soccer that is effective, entertaining and most of all, enjoyed by the players. I invest heavily in the young men in our program and their success is crucial to our future legacy. I am always looking to push and get the most out of our players, challenging them to be better each day.”  - Jessy Watson