‘One of the best’: Longtime Lincoln Southwest softball coach Mark Watt dies
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Longtime Lincoln Southwest softball coach Mark Watt died Wednesday after a battle with cancer.
Rhonda Revelle, Nebraska softball head coach, said Watt was a “legendary coach.”
“He’s one of the best, not only for his competitive spirt and how much his teams won, but the way he did it,” Revelle said. “I mean, he’s just classy.”
Coach Mark Watt: passed away yesterday. A legendary coach, master teacher, incredible mentor & role model, true friend, loyal & loving father and husband. The world is a better place because of YOU.
You are loved deeply by the Red Team.
We will carry your spirit w/us❤️ https://t.co/DYkn5TCpsG— Rhonda Revelle (@RhondaRevelle) November 7, 2024
LSW’s softball team also sent their sympathies to the family in a post on X.
Just 4 weeks ago Coach Watt helped us celebrate our District Championship. tonight he lost his battle with cancer. LSW softball sends our sympathies and prayers to his family pic.twitter.com/UNcNnq7x2w
— LSW Softball (@LSW_Softball) November 7, 2024
During Watt’s 25-year coaching career, he won 579 games and led his teams to four Class A state championships, including one in 2021.
He started at Lincoln southeast, then began coaching at Southwest when the school opened its doors in 2002.
Watt was named 2021-22 coach of the year by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
But his colleagues said helping young women be the best they could be was just as important as winning.
Liz Brenden, who coached with Watt at Southeast and Southwest, said he was a great mentor, teacher and father figure to the girls.
“He had high expectations,” she said. “He demanded them to be their best, to play their best; he instilled confidence, and he wanted them to the best young women, to be great leaders when they left school.
Watt retired from Southwest in 2022, then served as a volunteer coach for Nebraska softball.
“He worked so many of our camps and clinics for us, that I thought, ‘Man, if he ever retires and we have an opening, I’m going to try to grab him,'” Revelle said. “And that’s exactly what happened.
With the Huskers, he continued to push student-athletes toward excellence on and off the field.
“He loved us,” Nebraska softball player Abbie Squier said. “He loved the game. He invested a lot of time and energy into us, both on the field but also as people. He was awesome.”
Lincoln Southwest is working to create a scholarship in Watt’s memory.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
