Ben Watkins was announced as the linebackers coach at North Dakota on Jan. 2, 2025.
Prior to arriving in Grand Forks, Watkins spent five seasons (2020-24) at Fresno State. He coached the linebackers in 2024 and began his tenure with the Bulldogs in 2020 as a special teams quality control assistant. He also spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons as a graduate assistant and worked with the linebackers, while also spending the 2023 season as a defensive quality control assistant.
In 2024, Watkins coached a pair of All-Mountain West players in Tuasivi Nomura and Malachi Langley. Nomura garnered first team honors with a team-leading 109 tackles, while Langley earned second team honors and was second on the team with 84 tackles on the year. It marked the first time Fresno State had two linebackers named to the all-conference team since 2019.
Watkins joined Fresno State after serving as a defensive assistant at Colorado in 2019. Prior to joining the staff at Colorado, Watkins was a graduate assistant at Northern State where he coached the outside linebackers and the offensive scout team for two seasons.
He began his coaching career as a student assistant at his alma mater Peru State in 2016. While serving as a student assistant, he worked with the inside linebackers, special teams and the offensive scout team.
Prior to coaching, Watkins was a four-year letterwinner for the Bobcats. He graduated from Peru State with a bachelor's degree in secondary education in 2017 and earned his master's degree in teaching and learning from Northern State in 2019.
