Missouri State University Men's Football

Mark Watson Jr. joined the Missouri State staff as directorial staff assistant in January 2026.    Watson had served as general manager at Kent State University for the 2025 season after serving as the running backs coach and offensive recruiting coordinator in previous assignments during his three seasons with the Golden Flashes. Watson joined the Kent State staff in January of 2023 as the running backs coach and offensive recruiting coordinator and was later elevated to general manager in March 2025.   The 2025 Kent State squad logged its most wins since the 2022 season, including victories in three of its last five ball games to close out the campaign.   He spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Kent State, overseeing national recruiting as well as specific oversight for recruits in Missouri and Oklahoma.   Watson came to Kent State after serving the 2020-22 seasons as the wide receivers coach at Southern Illinois. During his three seasons with the Salukis, he coached All-MVFC wide receivers in each of his three years, including All-American Avante Cox who led The Valley in receiving during the spring 2021 COVID year and was the team's primary recruiter in Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.   Prior to his time in Carbondale, Watson was at South Dakota from 2016-19 as the defensive backs coach and head of player development. The Coyotes combined to pick off 43 passes in his four seasons. Likewise, South Dakota qualified for the FCS playoffs for the first time in 2017 and reached the round of 16.   He returned to the offensive side of the ball in 2013, joining Western Illinois for two seasons and coaching wide receivers (2013-14). The Leathernecks posted three 1,000-yard receivers on the same 2014 team, while WIU's secondary was pivotal in helping the program return to the FCS playoffs in 2014 after a five-year absence.   Watson joined the staff at USC in 2012 as a graduate assistant for defensive backs under coach Marvin Sanders. In that capacity, he helped guide the Trojans to a 41st national ranking in pass efficiency defense and 40th position in scoring defense.   Watson also has a career stop at Drake for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. In his two years in Des Moines with the Bulldogs, Drake led the Pioneer League in interceptions both seasons, combining for 28 picks in a two-year span. Drake also won the Pioneer League title in 2011 and ranked in the top 10 nationally (FCS) in rushing defense (2nd, 77.4), sacks (4th, 39), interceptions (6th, 17), scoring defense (7th, 17.7) and total defense (10th, 295.4).   A St. Charles, Mo., native, Watson played at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and McPherson (Kan.) College in his career. He was a two-year starter at McPherson and Bulldogs team captain as a senior.   He graduated from McPherson in 2010 with a degree in Business Management and Marketing. He later completed his masters in Sports Management from Southern New Hampshire University (2021).   He and his wife Antheria have four children -- daughters Tatiana, Makayla and Amaya and son Mark III.

Sloane Snyder joined the Missouri State football directorial staff in January 2026.  Snyder brought five years of operations staff experience at the major college level to MoState and oversees the program's daily logistics and travel coordination. She served as the football operations graduate assistant at Missouri the past two seasons, helping manage community service, law enforcement logistics, team scheduling and game-day communication for the SEC program. She also spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as the football operations intern at Mizzou, assisting with many of the same operations duties, including nutrition logistics. Snyder also worked as the player personnel intern in Columbia from August 2021 to May 2022, helping with film breakdowns, evaluations, official visits, recruiting and hospitality. In addition to her college football experience, she has completed an intern position with NASCAR WWTR in 2023, serving on the operations staff for the Cup Series Race and Craftsman Truck Race in Madison, Ill. Likewise, she interned at the NFL Draft in Kansas City in 2023. A native of Frisco, Texas, she helped with the Texas Legends summer camp in 2022, coaching youth basketball players and facilitating community partnerships and local clinics across North Texas. Snyder also served as an assistant coach intern at Reedy High School in 2021. She earned her undergraduate degree in Parks, Recreation, Sport and Tourism from Missouri in the summer of 2024 and is on track to complete her Masters of Business Administration later from Missouri in the spring of 2026.