Curiosity in how Bison football program operates led Walker to take assistant position

Football has taken him from one end of the country to the other in about the farthest west-to-east points possible. Now he’s about as north as it gets.

When Walker was hired as the cornerbacks coach at North Dakota State, he first set foot in Fargo in early February. True to the way this winter and spring have gone, the weather was not kind when he was walking outside with Bison head coach Matt Entz.

“It was 35 to 45 mph winds and it’s negative 13,” Walker said with a smile. “My face is hurting. Your eyes water and dry up right away. But I tell it all the time to the guys now and especially in recruiting is that when you get here, it’s 15 seconds to a minute you’re walking outside. Yes, it’s different but you’re still here to operate and do a good job and that’s been a good thing.”

Walker got to NDSU mainly through former Bison assistant AJ Blazek when both coached in the state of New Jersey; Walker at Monmouth and Blazek at Rutgers. When Blazek came to NDSU in 2019, he at some point made it known to Entz to keep an eye on Walker.

So Entz did.

They connected further through videotape like in the spring season of 2021 when the Bison played Sam Houston State in the quarterfinals. The Bearkats defeated Monmouth the prior week in the first round.

In 2019, NDSU and Monmouth had common opponents in Montana and James Madison.

“I always thought he was a sharp, young man,” Entz said. “And because of the open film exchange out there in college football, I liked the product he was putting on the field.”

When Bison defensive ends coach Buddha Williams left for Colorado State in January, Entz reached out to Walker via Twitter direct message.

His hiring triggered a shift in staff responsibilities. Numerically, Walker took the spot vacated by Williams. Strategically, former cornerbacks assistant Kody Morgan moved over to coach the safeties and assistant Nick Goeser assumed the entire defensive line responsibilities. To lighten his load, Morgan took over Goeser’s special teams duties.

“I don’t know if we made anything that is earth shattering as far as movement,” Entz said. “When we were looking for a new assistant, instead of pigeon-holing ourselves and saying we have to have ‘this,’ we went out there with the idea of let’s find the very best fit for NDSU versus trying to limit the number of applicants or possibilities.”

Walker is a young guy who still looks like he could put on the pads. The Bison could have used him in the ‘21 spring season when assistant coaches like Morgan and Grant Olson were forced to put on the pads in practice because of a lack of numbers, mostly due to players in COVID-19 quarantine.

“Yeah, that never goes away once you’re an athlete,” Walker said. “You always think you’re an athlete. I get out here and I’ll do some drills but I’m not in as good of shape as I used to be.”

But the relationship of being able to somewhat hang with the current Bison players seems to be a theme for him. He said he’s learning about the NDSU system from the veteran players about as much as he’s putting his stamp on them in meetings and practice.

It’s another reason that led him to Fargo. He wanted to see how a multiple national-championship program works.

“Looking outside in on this program, you see the success and the experience of it,” Walker said. “What college football is about is the experience whether you’re a player or a coach. When you have the opportunity to join a program as consistent as this one, you always have the itch and wonder what makes the program the way it is.”

And what has that itch seen so far?

“This is a player-led program,” he said. “The coaches, yeah, we’re here to help these guys get better in all areas of their life and on the football field but when you step out here and watch these guys take accountability of themselves and for each other, and there’s no negative concept to it or there’s no talking back, you ultimately give the best for the team.”