Track & Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach, Sprints
- Email:
- qwatts@usc.edu
Former Trojan Olympic great Quincy Watts is in his fourth season in charge of the Trojans’ program as he was promoted to USC Director of Track and Field and Cross Country on June 17, 2021 after eight seasons on Caryl Smith Gilbert’s staff as an assistant in charge of sprints, long hurdles and relays.
In his 11 seasons working with USC athletes, he has guided Trojans to 119 indoor and outdoor All-America honors in the 400 meters, 400-meter hurdles and 4x400-meter relay. His Trojan athletes also claimed 21 NCAA titles and 39 Pac-12 crowns, and they set three collegiate records and 29 school records plus all four USC freshman 400-meter records and the women's 400-meter hurdles freshman record.
Last season, Watts led the men’s team to a third-place finish outdoors and the women’s team to a 10th-place tie. During the indoor season the men tied for seventh and the women tied for eighth. USC accumulated a combined 30 outdoor and indoor All-America honors, with Jasmine Jones winning the indoor 60m hurdles title and the outdoor 400m hurdles titles, both with school records, and JC Stevenson winning the men’s outdoor long jump title. Both the men’s and women’s teams placed second at the Pac-12 Championships, with Trojans claiming 11 total event titles. During the summer, USC once again stood out at the Olympics with USC athletes winning nine medals, including five gold. The total medals were more than any other collegiate program in track and field.
During his second season at the helm in 2023, Watts led the men’s and women’s team to second-place finishes at the Pac-12 Championships, with the Trojans winning nine event titles. His 400m crew was especially dominant with freshman William Jones edging teammate and two-time defending champion Johnnie Blockburger in the final with a time of 44.65, just 0.05 off the school freshman record. On the women’s side, Jan’Taijah Jones won the title with the second-fastest 400m time by a USC woman of 50.44, to lead a 1-2-3-5 finish for the Trojans in the event. The women’s 4x400m relay earned outdoor All-America honors and the women’s and men’s 4x400m relays earned indoor All-America honors. Jan’Taijah Jones also placed fifth in the 400m at the NCAA Indoor Championships. USC athletes combined to post 60 indoor and outdoor Trojan all-time top 10 results during the season. During the season Allie Jones set the USC heptathlon record, Tade Ojora the men’s 60m hurdles record, Samirah Moody the women’s 60m record and Summer Mosley the women’s weight throw record.
In his inaugural season as a head coach in 2022, Watts led USC to some pretty impressive accomplishments. His athletes posted 16 outdoor and 17 indoor all-time USC indoor marks, including setting five school records. Trojans setting USC records were Davonte Burnett in the 60m, Summer Mosley in the women’s weight throw, Alyssa Brewer the women’s indoor 800m, Janiah Brown, Gigi Maccagnini, Jemima Russell and Brewer in the women’s 4x800m relay and Kasaun James, Brendon Stewart, Ashton Allen and Johnnie Blockburger in the men’s 4x100m relay, set in winning the NCAA title. The men’s team placed 12th at the NCAA Championships, after taking third at the Pac-12 Championships, while the women were 30th at NCAAs and fourth at Pac-12s.
Watts was named 2022 NCAA Indoor West Region Coach of the Year and had athletes earn 12 indoor All-America honors and earn 11 first-team outdoor All-America status. In addition, USC athletes combined to earn 23 All-Academic honor roll designations for the Winter and Spring semesters. The Trojans also swept the annual dual meet against UCLA. Watts also continues coaching USA Olympic medalists Michael Norman, Rai Benjamin and Kendall Ellis. Norman won gold medals in the 400m and with the USA 4x400m relay team and Benjamin a silver medal in the 400m hurdles at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
He was the 2021 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Outdoor Women's Assistant Coach of the Year as well as the West Region Indoor and Outdoor Women's Assistant Coach of the Year. At the 2021 NCAA Indoor meet, he helped Kaelin Roberts to her second 400-meter title and the women's 4x400-meter relay team to a second place finish, while at last week's NCAA Outdoor meet Anna Cockrell was the 400-meter hurdles champ, the women won the 4x100-meter relay and three women earned All-America honors in the 400 meters (the first time by any school in the event since 2014).
In his eight years (2014-21) as a USC assistant, the Women of Troy had four Top 3 finishes at the NCAA meet, including winning it in 2018 and 2021 and placing second in 2019, and they never finished below second place at the Pac-12 meet. The Trojan men had a quartet of Top 5 NCAA finishes and Pac-12 runner-up finishes.
Watts guided Trojans to 86 indoor and outdoor All-America honors in the 400 meters, 400-meter hurdles and 4x400-meter relay. His Trojan athletes also claimed 19 NCAA titles and 26 Pac-12 crowns, and they set three collegiate records and 24 school records plus all four USC freshman 400-meter records and the women's 400-meter hurdles freshman record.
Besides Cockrell and Roberts, among the other champion Trojan athletes that Watts has coached are Michael Norman, Rai Benjamin, Ricky Morgan Jr., Cameron Samuel, Kendall Ellis, Kyra Constantine, Bailey Lear, Jaide Stepter, Amalie Iuel, Nicole Yeargin and Vanessa Jones.
The 2020 season did not finish due to COVID-19, but he guided Kyra Constantine, Bailey Lear and Kaelin Roberts to indoor 400m All-America honors and those three and Anna Cockrell to All-America honors in the indoor 4x400m relay
In 2019, Watts guided Kaelin Roberts to the NCAA Indoor 400m title and Kyra Constantine to both indoor and outdoor All-America honors in the event. In addition, the women's 4x400m relay earned All-America honors both indoors and outdoors. Watts was named the 2019 West Region Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year.
In 2018 Watts helped guide his athletes to a banner year which earned him U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year and NCAA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors. Watts guided Michael Norman in the 400m dash and the men’s 4x400m relay team of Ricky Morgan Jr., Rai Benjamin, Zach Shinnick and Norman to NCAA titles and collegiate records at the 2018 NCAA T&F Championships. Norman won the 400m race with a collegiate, NCAA Championships and Hayward Field record time of 43.61. The 4x400m relay won its title with an all-time NCAA, NCAA Championships and school-record time of 2:59.00. Watts also coached Norman to a Pac-12 400m title with a time of 44.40. He also guided the 4x100m relay to a Pac-12 title and this season it posted two of the top five times ever by Trojans in the event. He also guided Rai Benjamin to a time of 44.74 in the 400m, sixth on USC’s all-time list and fifth in the country during the regular season. Kendall Ellis set the USC indoor and outdoor 400m records and became the third NCAA woman athlete to run sub-50 in the 400m when she won the Pac-12 title with a time of 49.99. Ellis placed second in the 400m at the NCAA Championships and then ran an epic anchor leg for USC’s women’s 4x400m relay which won with a time of 3:27.06 to clinch the team title. Ellis’ time of 50.34 to win the NCAA indoor title set the USC, collegiate and USA 400m records. Watts continues to train Olympians Noman and Benjamin who began their professional careers after combining to set three collegiate records at the NCAA Championships.
In 2017, Watts guided Ellis to then USC records in the women’s indoor (51.52) and outdoor (50.00) 400m race, a second-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships and a third-place finish at the Outdoor Championships. Cameron Pettigrew also reached the women’s final and Michael Norman also became a 400m All-American on the men’s side. Norman also set the USC freshman record with a time of 44.60. Both Norman and Ellis also won Pac-12 400m titles. Watts again had great success with the relays with the women’s 4x400m relay winning the indoor title and placing second outdoors, while setting the indoor collegiate record (3:27.03) and running the second-fastest time ever outdoors (3:23.35). The men’s team set the school indoor record and ran its fastest outdoor time since 2012. Ellis also qualified during the summer to represent the USA in the 400m at the World Championships. Watts also worked with the 400m hurdlers Anna Cockrell and Amalie Iuel, who placed second and third respectively at the NCAA Championships and Cockrell setting the Trojan freshman record with a time of 55.14 at the USA T&F Championships.
In 2016, Ricky Morgan garnered 400m All-America honors and Jaide Stepter set the then school indoor and outdoor 400m records. The USC women's relays both set school records. Stepter also was a 400m hurdles All-American, won her third consecutive conference hurdles title and tied the school record with a time of 54.95 at the USA T&F Championships. He also worked with Pac-12 heptathlon champion Amalie Iuel, guiding her to a time of 2:06.34 in the 800m race which clinched the title and was the 10th-fastest time ever run by a Trojan woman.
In 2015 he coached Vanessa Jones to the Pac-12 women's 400m title and Ellis to the USC women's freshman outdoor 400m record and Morgan to the men's freshman indoor record. All three runners advanced to the NCAA semifinals in the event. At the time, Jones ran the second-fastest 400m time ever by a USC woman of 51.50 to win the conference title. Ellis' freshman record of 52.32 was set in winning the 400m at the USATF Juniors. He also guided the talented quartet of Stepter, Amalie Iuel, Ellis and Jones which won the Pac-12 title, earned a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships and set both the USC indoor and outdoor 4x400m records. Iuel and Stepter were All-Americans in the 400m hurdles and Stepter won the Pac-12 title in the event.
In his first season back home at USC, Watts helped guide the men's and women's sprinters post some impressive marks. His best works was with the 400m runners as Akawkaw Ndipagbor won the MPSF indoor 400m title and then earned indoor All-America honors and set the school indoor record. Three USC women and one male scored at the Pac-12 Championships in the 400m dash. Stepter won her first Pac-12 400m hurdles title.
Watts spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons as an assistant coach at CS Northridge, primarily working with the distance runners and cross country team. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Harvard-Westlake High in Los Angeles (Calif.), where he helped develop one of the strongest distance programs in the country. He began his coaching career as head coach at his prep alma mater, Taft High in Woodland Hills (Calif.).
Watts came to USC from Taft specializing in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, then turned into one of the best 400-meter runners in Trojan history. The four-year (1989-92) letterman won the 1992 NCAA 400-meter race in 44.00, a meet record that stood for 25 years. Watts also ran the anchor leg on the 4x400-meter relay team that set a school record of 3:00.58 while placing second at those NCAAs. As a junior, he finished second in the 400 meters at the 1991 NCAA Championships.
Watts, who was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012, also was a wide receiver on the Trojan football team in 1990.
At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Watts twice broke Lee Evans' Olympic record in winning the 400 meters. He ran 43.71 in the semifinal before clocking 43.50 in the final (that still stands as the USC record) to become the first 400-meter athlete to run sub-44.0 in a championship meet. He then teamed with Andrew Valmon, Michael Johnson and Steve Lewis to win the gold in the 4x400-meter relay in a then-world record time of 2:55.74 (he ran the second leg in a blistering 43.10).
He also earned a gold medal in the 4x400-meter relay at the 1993 World Championships (in a still-standing world record time of 2:54.29), and a silver medal in that relay at the 1991 World Championships.
Watts was ranked in the world Top 10 in the 400 meters for four consecutive years (1991-94), including No. 1 in 1992.
A native of Detroit, Mich., he was born on June 19, 1970. He and his wife, Kelly, have three children, daughters Talise and Kylie and son Quincy Jr.
