Meet Morgan Watts, the new USU Spirit Squad coach
Morgan Watts, the new coach for the Utah State University Spirit Squad, has done cheer since she was 12 years old and said she now has her “ultimate dream job.”
Watts is from Garland, Utah and attended Bear River High School. She lives here in Logan with her husband, her 5-year-old twins Lucas and Winnie and her 2-year-old daughter Penelope.
“When I’m not coaching I love to be with my family, and basically they fill out any free second I have,” she said.
Watts started cheering competitively as a teenager and continued cheering in high school. She said she watched her older sister cheer for USU’s Spirit Squad and knew that she wanted to do that, too.
In addition to cheer, Watts also did dance and ballet in high school and starred in a few productions, such in Ballet West’s production of The Nutcracker and Pickleville Playhouse’s Juanito Bandito’s Christmas.
Watts also was an extra in the “I Don’t Dance” scene in High School Musical 2.
“It wasn’t a big role, but I had to audition for the part and I got to be in the baseball scene,” she said. “I met the entire cast and made many memories from dancers all over the country.”
Watts started cheering at USU as a freshman, and was moved to the Aggiette team for her last three years. She said she always knew she wanted to coach after she was done with school, but she had to wait a few years. She tried to coach right after graduating, but the timing was off, she said.
“The want and desire to be the spirit squad never went away. It just got more distant because it seemed impossible,” she said. “Years down the road the opportunity came up and things worked out perfectly.”
Watts said the season so far has been great, but challenging with COVID-19.
“We’ve been practicing since the first week in September,” she said. “We would’ve started in summer but because of COVID we didn’t start until school started. Typically we would practice during the summer and have a summer retreat but obviously things got changed around or rescheduled.”
A typical day of practice for the squad starts at 6 a.m.
“We start with a pretty extensive warm up just to get the heart rates going and muscles warm,” Watts said. “Then they do a 15-20 minute stretch. We go over team business, what needs to be done and our goals and efforts for the week.”
Then the Aggiettes run through their routines while the cheer squad does stunting and tumbling.
“At the end of the week, we put it to music and record our routines that are displayed on the jumbotrons at football and basketball games,” Watts said.
That’s how most of their routines have been done this season, Watts said. The team is recorded, and the video is posted online or played on a screen during games.
“We’ve been able to attend the one football game we’ve had,” she said. “We’re just in the stands doing cheers and band dances.”
Even with obstacles from COVID-19, Watts said the team is extra close this year.
“That’s one of our biggest strengths as a team,” she said. “I feel like we’re really unified. It’s so helpful because with COVID we have to rely heavily on each other to know we have each others’ backs. It’s a really frustrating time. We have to stay positive and find the silver lining in everything and that’s brought us close together.”
Watts said she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
“I’m so grateful to be in charge of something that has so much pride and love for the university. It’s so fun to be an Aggie,” she said. “It’s a really great opportunity to be a part of such a big thing that gives opportunities for young adults.”
@HarrisKarcin