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Shawn Watson Position: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Experience: 2nd season

One of the brightest offensive minds in college football, Shawn Watson begins his second season coaching the quarterbacks and first as the offensive coordinator with the Cardinals.

Watson took over as the primary playcaller last season five games into the season and ignited the offense to a share of the BIG EAST title and a postseason appearance.

Coaching the quarterbacks at Louisville last season, Watson coached Teddy Bridgewater to the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year Award and numerous freshman All-American awards. Taking over the play-calling duties, Watson's offense averaged 23.4 points per game and 200.0 yards through the air with one of the youngest offensive units in the country.

After five seasons at Nebraska, including four as the offensive coordinator, Watson owns an impressive resume with 30 years of college coaching experience, including three years as a head coach at Southern Illinois from 1994-96.

A native of Carbondale, Ill., Watson directed an offense in 2010 that ranked ninth in the country in rushing offense at 247.6 yards per game, including four games where Nebraska ran for more than 300 yards in a game. The Huskers also ranked 39th in scoring offense at 30.9 points per game and 44th in total offense, averaging 398.1 yards a contest and leading Nebraska to a 10-4 overall record.

Under Watson's guidance in 2009, Nebraska averaged 147.1 rushing yards per game averaged 175.7 yards through the air. Zac Lee, who was in his first season as a starter, completed nearly 60 percent of his passes. Watson's balanced attack a year earlier averaged 169.8 yards per game on the ground and 281.0 yards in the air, as the Huskers' 450.8 yards of total offense per game ranked 12th nationally. With Watson at the helm of the offense, senior quarterback Joe Ganz set single-season school records for total yards with 3,826, and passing yards with 3,568 in 2008. He threw for 25 touchdowns while completing 67.9 percent of his passes, finishing his career with more than 20 NU records.

Watson was promoted to offensive coordinator prior to the 2007 season, when the Huskers threw for a school-record 3,886 yards, including the top three passing days in school history. The Nebraska offense ranked ninth nationally at 468.2 yards per game, NU's best average since 1997. A pair of Watson's quarterbacks helped Nebraska rank seventh nationally in passing with a school-record 323.8 yards per game.

In his first season with the Huskers, Watson tutored the tight ends and served as the school's recruiting coordinator. Among his proteges that first season at NU was Matt Herian, who finished his career with a Husker tight end record for receptions (65) and reception yardage (1,243).

Watson joined the Nebraska staff after serving seven seasons at Colorado from 1999-2005 under Gary Barnett, including the last six as offensive coordinator. Watson coached on the staff of four teams that won the Big 12 North Division, including a conference title in 2001.

Prior to coaching at Colorado, Watson coached at Northwestern in 1997-1998, serving as quarterbacks coach for the Wildcats. Watson earned his spot at Northwestern following a three-year stint as the head coach at Southern Illinois, Watson's alma mater.

Watson earned his first head coaching job at SIU after an impressive seven-year run as an assistant coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. While at Miami, Watson tutored the tight ends for three years, wide receivers for two years and served as quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator in his final two seasons.

Watson's first full-time assistant coaching job came on Mike White's Illinois staff. Watson first served as a graduate assistant in 1983 and 1984, then worked with the offensive tackles and tight ends in 1985, before serving as the Illini's wide receivers coach in 1986. Watson was a part of two bowl teams at Illinois, including the 1983 Rose Bowl team.

Watson began his collegiate playing career at Illinois in 1978, but transferred to Southern Illinois at Carbondale in 1979 and played two seasons with the Salukis as a safety. He earned a bachelor's degree from SIU in 1982, then served for one season as a graduate assistant with the Salukis in 1982.

Watson and his wife, Anita, have a daughter, Amber, and two sons, Aaron and Adam. Amber and her husband, Marcus, have two children, Caden and Maggie.