A longtime colleague of South Alabama defensive coordinator Bill Clark — the two have worked together since the fall of 1999 — Duwan Walker begins his fourth season as the Jaguars’ assistant coach in charge of the secondary.
In 2011, USA cornerbacks and safeties played a key role in the Jags finishing the campaign ranked in the top 20 nationally among all NCAA Football Championship Subdivision schools in both passing and total defense after allowing just 167 and just under 310 yards, respectively, in the two categories. Whether it was Charles Harris posting 81 total stops to end the year second on the squad in tackles, Gabe Loper intercepting two passes — he was the only individual on the team with more than one pickoff — or B.J. Scott breaking up a team-best four passes, members of Walker’s secondary contributed to that effort.
Six defensive backs combined to intercept 11 passes in 2010, with Tim Harvey and Michael Wilson sharing the team lead with three apiece, defending another 18 as the Jags gave up less than 175 yards per game through the air, fewer than 255 yards per outing overall and just 13 points per contest. The secondary had a hand in recovering a pair of fumbles and were credited with forcing three, while five members of the unit posted a double-digit tackle total; Ken Barefield and Jerron Mitchell ranked third and fourth on the team with 37 and 34 stops, respectively.
Members of Walker’s secondary found multiple ways to contribute to a defensive unit that gave up less than 235 yards per game as well as just 41 total points as the Jaguars finished 7-0 in their inaugural season in 2009. USA defensive backs accounted for all but one of the team’s 14 interceptions — returning two of those for touchdowns — broke up seven other pass attempts, forced two fumbles and recovered another pair. Four members of Walker’s unit posted at least 20 tackles, while another two reached double figures in the category.
Walker spent the previous nine years prior to his arrival in Mobile as an assistant at Prattville High School, where he coached under current USA defensive coordinator Bill Clark. At PHS, he worked for two years as defensive backs coach before being elevated to defensive coordinator in 2001. During that time, he helped the school advance to the state 6A playoffs on eight occasions, three state championship games and the state title in each of his last two seasons on the staff. Overall, the Lions would go 107-11 (90.7%) during his tenure with the program — that included winning every regular-season contest from the third week of the 2002 campaign through the end of his time at PHS.
The Lions first advanced to postseason action in his second year on the staff, and they picked up their first playoff victory during his tenure a year later after advancing to the quarterfinals before falling to the eventual state champions. PHS would again move on to the final eight in 2002 and ’03, then made the state championship game for the first occasion while he was on the staff in 2004.
After another quarterfinal appearance the next fall, Walker helped guide the Lions to the state 6A championship in both 2006 and ’07. They won 30 straight games during that span, finishing second in the country in the USA Today’s national high school poll his last season with the school.
He gained his start in the coaching profession as a graduate assistant at Troy beginning in 1997, working with the defensive line for one season before helping defensive backs the next. In his second season on the staff, Walker helped the Trojans to an 8-4 finish and a berth in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs — that included going 5-2 in the Southland Football League.
A four-year letterman at Troy from 1992-95, Walker played as a true freshman, primarily on special teams. He spot-started at safety as a sophomore before moving into the No. 1 spot on the depth chart for his junior and senior seasons. During his time at Troy, the Trojans competed as an NCAA Division I-AA independent, reaching the semifinals of the playoffs in 1993 while also participating in the event in both 1994 and ’95. The school would go 41-7-1 (84.7%) overall during his career, winning 10 or more games while losing just once in three of those years.
Walker earned a bachelor’s degree in human services with a double minor in psychology and biology from Troy in 1996, and he received his master’s degree in counseling from the school in 2001. He and his wife Kaylyn have three children, Durelle (22), Christian (9) and Caden (7).
The Walker File
Born: Oct. 9, 1973, in Cairo, Ga.
Education:
Troy ’96, bachelor’s degree in human services (minors in psychology and biology)
Troy ’01, master’s degree in counseling
Collegiate Playing Experience:
Four years, defensive back, Troy
Coaching Experience:
Troy — graduate assistant, 1997-98
Prattville [Ala.] High — assistant coach, 1999-07
South Alabama — assistant coach, 2008-
Family: Wife, Kaylyn; Three sons, Durelle (22), Christian (9) and Caden (7)
