Wofford head football coach Shawn Watson and his family are home for the holidays for the first time in 20 years. There’s a tree surrounded by gifts. Festive lanterns and garland decorate the front porch. Gold trees frame the hearth, and Santas, lights and more greenery top the mantle.
“I might have gone a little overboard,” says Anita Watson, who, along with her family, has spent Christmas and New Year’s holidays on the road at bowl games for the past several decades.
The Watsons laugh about holiday meals purchased in convenience stores and eaten in hotel rooms. While Shawn was coaching with Georgia, Nebraska, Colorado, Louisville, Texas and Pittsburgh, staying together for the holidays meant unconventional celebrations. This year, sitting in their cozy living room, there’s no mistaking the joy they feel to be settled at Wofford and planning to host their two sons and their families, including a new 3-month-old grandson, for Christmas.
“I asked my oldest recently what he remembers most about Christmas, and he said, ‘bowl games,’” says Shawn Watson. “Sometimes Santa left a note saying that he dropped gifts at home. Sometimes Santa left packages early. … That was tougher to explain.”
When Watson entered the field almost 40 years ago, he was focused on building relationships with and mentoring student-athletes. That hasn’t changed, although the NCAA Division I landscape he’s working within certainly has. Since being announced as the new head coach of the Terrier football team, he and the other coaches have been on the road recruiting and on campus meeting with and helping current members of the team understand how important they are to the future of Wofford football.
On Christmas Day, however, he’s planning to be home, starting a new family tradition. He shares that hope for the rest of the team as well.
“I want them to enjoy time with their families,” says Watson. “That’s important.”