Drew Watson became Athletics Director at Southeastern University in 2012.
A lifelong native of the Philadelphia area, he moved to Lakeland in 2011 to become the head women’s basketball coach and a year later, became the athletics director. After serving in dual roles for the following two years, Watson stepped down from coaching after the 2013-14 season to focus his energies on leading the department.
During his tenure as athletics director, the department has grown from nine programs and 150 student-athletes to 20 programs and over 570 student-athletes. Watson has overseen the development of men’s and women’s cross country (2012), football (2013), women’s golf (2013), wrestling (2015), men’s and women’s track and field (2018), and bass fishing (2023). E-sports moved into the athletic department family in 2023.
He is a six-time Sun Conference Athletic Director of the Year, honored by his peers more than anyone in the award's history. He went on to win the NAIA's Athletic Director of the Year honor for 2018-19. He is a three-time honoree as a NACDA Athletic Director of the Year (2017, 2019, 2024), an award that goes to 28 of the nation’s top athletic administrators across all divisions of the NCAA, NAIA and junior colleges. He was honored by the Polk County All Sports Awards Committee as the Bernie Little Sports Executive of the Year in 2015 and 2024.
Under Watson's leadership, Southeastern won the 2018-19 Sun Conference Commissioner's Cup for the first time since joining the league in 2009. He also guided the Fire to the Commissioner's Cup in 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2023-24.
In 2018, the Fire baseball program became the first in school history to win a NAIA National Championship, as they swept through the World Series in their first-ever appearance. Fire baseball won its second national title in 2022 after being ranked #1 in the NAIA all season. In 2023, men’s indoor track won the department’s third team National Championship. Additionally, the Fire have earned individual NAIA National Championships in wrestling (4), indoor track & field (4), and outdoor track and field (4).
Since qualifying for their first NAIA National Tournament in 2013 (Men’s Golf), the Fire have steadily increased their presence at the national level, appearing in a program-record 16 NAIA National Tournaments during the 2022-23 year. The Fire have twice finished in the top ten in the Learfield Cup standings, placing fifth in both 2021-22 and 2022-23. The Fire most recently finished in 13th in 2023-24.
Watson currently serves on the NAIA’s National Administrative Counsel, Conduct and Ethics Committee, and Council for Student-Athletes and is a member of the women's basketball selection committee. He is also on the board of the NAIA Athletic Director’s Association (ADA) and served as the association's president in 2022-23. He has served three different stints as a member of The Sun Conference executive committee. Additionally, he served as chair of the NAIA task force on divisions in basketball, working for two years on the recommendation to unify the two divisions. The change was adopted in 2018 and went into its first year of implementation during the 2020-21 season.
Locally, Watson is a member of the Sports and Special Events Committee for Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing. On campus, he served on Southeastern’s COVID Response Team (CRT), which was instrumental in guiding the University through the global pandemic.
Drew and his wife, Kim, and their dogs, Ember and Jack, live in South Lakeland.
