The UMass football team made a huge addition in the transfer portal late Sunday night, possibly finding its new starting quarterback. Springfield native William “Pop” Watson III announced he is committing to play the upcoming season in Amherst, with two years of eligibility left.
Watson spent the last three years at Virginia Tech, struggling to find consistent playing time. He appeared in 11 games across three seasons with the Hokies, including two starts at the end of the 2024 season.
In his limited collegiate experience, the incoming redshirt junior totaled 558 passing yards and one touchdown, adding on 81 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Coming out of Springfield Central High School, Watson was named the Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year in 2022 as a senior, as well as the MaxPreps Massachusetts High School Football Player of the Year in 2021 as a junior.
He also led the Eagles to two Massachusetts Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Division I state championships during his career (2019, 2021) and three finals appearances in the process.
Watson graduated as Springfield Central’s all-time passing leader, completing 459-of-691 (66.4%) career passes for 7,847 career passing yards and 81 career touchdowns. On the ground, he attempted 190 career carries, totaling 2,120 career rushing yards and 40 career rushing touchdowns.
Coming out of high school, the 5-foot-11, 201-pound quarterback held 12 Division 1 offers, including one from the Minutemen. He was the 40th-ranked player in the nation at his position, as well as the No. 9 prospect overall in the state of Massachusetts, according to 247Sports.
All three of the quarterbacks who started a game last season for UMass (AJ Hairston, Brandon Rose and Grant Jordan) announced their intention to transfer this offseason, leaving a wide-open hole as to who will start in 2026.
The Minutemen now have four signal-callers on the roster, with Watson headlining a group including redshirt sophomore Will Perry, redshirt freshman Zach Lawrence and true freshman Aedan McCarthy.
With a unique, dual-threat skillset, Watson brings new excitement to the Minutemen, who needed drastic changes after the 2025 season.
With a new offensive coordinator (Max Warner) onboard and potentially a new homegrown day-one starter under center, UMass’ offensive personnel appears to be taking shape.