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Iowa State University Athletics
Walker's ISU Career Comes Full Circle
11.30.2009 | Football
AMES, Iowa -- Five years ago, as a walk-on (non-scholarship) player on the Iowa State football scout team, Kyle Walker made the trip as a true freshman to the 2005 Houston Bowl. He won't forget the experience.
“I remember walking into (Reliant Stadium),” Walker said. “It was huge. I was 19 at the time and it was a great experience.”
It has been a long and winding road since that bowl game for Walker and the Cyclone football program. Now, under first-year head coach Paul Rhoads, Iowa State is bowl eligible and knocking on the door of post-season play with a 6-6 record.
If Walker gets into a bowl game, it will be a reward for a senior who has dealt with his own challenges and persevered without the perk of playing time.
“I would appreciate it even more this time,” Walker said.
Whatever happens, Walker has paid his dues in full. Iowa State has played 60 football games since Walker stepped on campus more than four years ago. He hasn't played in a single game.
“Kyle is what college football is all about,” Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads said. “He and his fellow scout team players are the ones who make us a better football team preparing for our opponents. Kyle has gone through a lot and one of the great things about going to a bowl game would be individuals like him would get to enjoy that experience one more time.”
Walker played many different sports growing up in Cedar Rapids. He found success in football as a running back at Cedar Rapids Jefferson. His best sport was football. Walker wanted to be on a major college team.
“My dream ever since I was a kid was to play at the Division I level,” Walker said. “I got offers from smaller schools but I still wanted play at a big school. My dad went to Iowa State. I came out for a visit at ISU. My high school coach knew Terry Allen who was an assistant on (former ISU head coach) Dan McCarney's staff. I kept working out during that time to stay in shape. One day I got a letter that said I could walk-on without a tryout. It was a great day.”
Originally, Walker played his high school position, running back, on the scout team. It was at this time that he traveled to Houston, Texas for the 2005 Houston Bowl. It was a great opportunity but football commitments and academic goals clashed as he adjusted to college life and college football.
“It was a huge transition for me,” Walker said. “My grades suffered so I took the spring semester (2006) off and took a couple of classes at home. I wanted to come back and was set to rejoin the football team and head back to classes at ISU that fall (2006).”
But McCarney's tenure at Iowa State ended after the 2006 season. For all players in a football program a new coach means everyone is back to square one. For a walk-on at the fringes of the program, such a transition can end a player's career.
“I ended up sitting in my dorm room studying,” Walker said. “Now under (ISU head) coach (Gene) Chizik, I was starting from scratch. They didn't know me. I ended up sitting out my entire sophomore year, and just went to school.”
There were also the academic hurdles.
“To be on the team, you had to have a GPA of at least 2.5,” Walker said. “I worked really hard over that summer (2007) and got two “As” to lift my GPA to 2.49. I tried out and a coach came and told me I'd be on the team if I had a 2.5.”
Walker's chance to play college football teetered in the balance. He met with Chizik and had players who knew him put in calls to the coaches on his behalf.
“They told the coaching staff that I was a good guy that would work very hard,” Walker said.
Chizik agreed to bring Walker back on the team, as a defensive back, provided that his GPA move above 2.5 in the following two semesters.
Having played for three coaches, Walker knows all about starting over.
“As a walk-on, you have to start all over because the new coaches don't know you,” Walker said. “You have to make an impact. I had done that as a freshman but then took time off. I was going on my second year with coach Chizik and then he leaves and a whole new staff comes in and the process starts all over again.”
Walker made the cut under Rhoads' leadership. Walker works with the graduate assistants on the Iowa State staff, re-creating various defenses each week in anticipation of the next opponent.
“We give the offense looks, and it varies from team to team,” Walker said. “In the Big 12, you'll see they sometimes run the same kind of defense. So maybe a defense we had in week two or week three will come up again in week seven or eight. I like being able to help out the offense.”
Walker hopes his collegiate football career will end as it did his freshman season, in a bowl game.
Walker looks on the bright side of working under three different coaching staffs.
“I have all those contacts with all those coaches,” Walker said. “Maybe that will lead to something in the future for me. I didn't get the playing time or reached the aspirations I had as a kid growing up. But the experiences I've had, and the contacts I've made with coaches and the friendships I've made with teammates have made it worth it. The guys I have known for five years now will probably be my best friends until the day I die.”
The kinesiology major will graduate in May 2010. He will take with him a college degree and friendships that will last a lifetime.
Players Mentioned
Carson Willich 4_1_26 interview
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Cameron Pettaway 4_1_26 interview
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Tyler Roehl 4_1_26 presser
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Jesse Bobbit 4_1_26 presser
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