Up-and-coming assistants? 2 SEC West staffers make 247Sports’ 30-under-30 list
By Keith Farner
Published:
Looking for fresh blood in the coaching ranks, 247Sports annually sets out to list the top 30 assistant coaches or staffers who are under 30-years-old in college football.
The media outlet said it tries to identify fast risers in the industry and find the next group of coaching stars.
“We cast a wide net to do so, canvassing coaches and many other contacts to find 30 of the best young minds in the sport,” Chris Hummer wrote. “That group will include a handful of off-field personnel, either those who work on the recruiting side of things or the GAs and analysts we believe are will be future impact coaches.”
The SEC had two assistants make the cut, and they’re both from the SEC West.
Ishmael Aristide, Texas A&M, Defensive Analyst (29): Take a look at any member of Texas A&M’s 2020 recruiting class, and there’s a pretty good bet Aristide had a role in helping to land that player. Considered an elite recruiter, Aristide aided the Aggies’ pursuit of players like Donell Harris and one of the deepest defensive back classes in the country. He’s also been a big asset for Texas A&M’s defensive back room, working alongside defensive coordinator Mike Elko. Aristide came to College Station from Ole Miss, where he served as a senior defensive analyst from 2017 to 2019. Before arriving in Oxford, he was a GA at Auburn. The former Purdue Boilermaker is someone we expect to have an on-field role sooner rather than later. Those around the Aggie program are very high on him.
Marquise Watson, Graduate Assistant, Ole Miss (25): Watson finished as Bryant’s all-time leading tackler when he graduated in 2017. Two years later, he’d ascended as the program’s d-line coach and run game coordinator. That’s after serving a sting as Amherst College’s running backs coach and as a GA at Rutgers. Now, Watson is at Ole Miss working under his former high school head coach Chris Partridge. He’s responsible for coaching the Rebels’ Buck linebackers. Said an Ole Miss source: “He’s a really good young coach, and I’m excited about his career. He will be one of the next great Power Five coaches.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
