Mark Watt, a former Nebraska volunteer assistant coach and long-time Lincoln Southwest High School softball coach, passed
away on Wednesday after a courageous battle with cancer. Over the span of a 25-year coaching career, Watt accumulated 579 wins
and led his teams to four Class A state championships, with his most recent title coming in 2021. He began coaching at Lincoln
Southwest in 2002, the year the school opened, and continued until his retirement in 2022. Watt also served on Rhonda Revelle’s coaching staff
at the University of Nebraska following his retirement from high school coaching. Revelle took to social media to honor him, calling Watt a ”
legendary coach” and a “true friend.”The Lincoln Southwest softball team, too, paid tribute to their former coach, expressing their condolences to
his family in a heartfelt post on X (formerly Twitter). A 1978 graduate of the University of Michigan, Watt began his coaching career in
1996 as head softball coach at Lincoln Southeast. In 2002, he became the first head coach of Lincoln Southwest, where his impact
extended beyond softball. Throughout his career, Watt coached a variety of sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, boys’
volleyball, football, and baseball, accumulating 21 years of experience in athletics. His coaching journey also took him internationally, serving as
athletic director and coach at TASIS-Hellenic International School in Athens, Greece. Watt’s coaching excellence was recognized with
several prestigious accolades, including the NFHS National Softball Coach of the Year award (2021-2022) and Nebraska Coaches Association
Softball Coach of the Year honors (2009, 2022). He was also deeply committed to his athletes’ academic success, guiding his teams to six top-
ten national rankings for team GPA since 2012, while mentoring numerous athletes to NFCA All-Region honors.
Watt earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Michigan and a master’s degree in health promotion and wellness management from
Springfield College in 1989. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Watt is survived by his wife, Ann, and their two daughters, Lindsay and Kelsey.