Football: TCU hires Cal’s Tre Watson as safeties/nickels coach and passing game coordinator

The Horned Frogs find their replacement for Paul Gonzales, who left the program for Baylor earlier this offseason.

TCU football has named its replacement for former safeties coach Paul Gonzales, hiring Cal’s Tre Watson to be the next safeties/nickels coach and defensive passing game coordinator. Watson arrives in Fort Worth after spending the last four seasons at Cal, where he helped lead the Golden Bear defense to 22 turnovers, including 17 interceptions. He coached Nohl Williams into a First-Team All-American and semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and Chuck Bednarik Award. Before Cal, Watson worked as an assistant at Oregon, where he coached alongside current TCU defensive coordinator Andy Avalos.

Watson was a defensive backs coach at UNLV in 2020 and previously served as a graduate assistant at Oregon from 2018-19. Watson played collegiate football at Washington, where he appeared in 26 games over the 2012 and 2013 seasons after beginning his career at West Hills College and Central Washington in 2009 and 2010. Watson, who earned his degree from Washington in 2013, spent three years training NFL players over the offseason and preparing college players for the NFL Combine. His client list included Budda Baker, DeShawn Shead, Shaq Tompson, Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright.