ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It’s been quite the journey for fifth-year safety Wesley Walker.
The former starter at Georgia Tech and, more recently, Tennessee opted for greener pastures in December and committed to Louisville via the transfer portal. But it appears that the Yellowjackets, the Vols, and the Cards could hold him, as he re-entered the portal and ended up in Ann Arbor as a Michigan Wolverine.
Walker has seen some coaches in his day — first Geoff Collins in Atlanta, but when he was ousted in 2022, he ended up joining Josh Heupel in Knoxville. He had a stint in spring ball with Jeff Brohm, but now Sherrone Moore is his new head coach.
Considering he has had a diverse experience and this is Moore’s first year as the head coach, what does Walker see from him? It turns out that, in his eyes, Michigan — the defending national champion — has the best operation of the bunch.
“Sherrone, great guy first before anything. But as far as a coach, he keeps things in order,” Walker said. “He makes sure everything flows smooth. And actually, all the players I’ve been (around), I think this is the smoothest practice, flow of practice. It’s strictly ball, and that’s what it should really always be. It’s not really a bunch of rah-rah stuff. It’s just strictly ball and getting in and getting better.
“The fact that we do a lot of ball, instead of doing a lot of separate stuff — we do a lot of good-on-good team things. So that’s ultimately how you gonna get better, going against (the other side of the ball) — good-on-good.”
But it’s not just the coaches. It’s the culture inside Schembechler Hall as a whole.
Yes, the Wolverines are on a bit of a sugar high having just won the national championship, but it’s not about what was just done — it’s about what’s possible this year.
Walker says that not only do his newfound teammates not spend time relishing their accomplishment from a year ago, their focus is on getting another championship. And what’s more, Walker feels more embraced as a part of a team in a way he hadn’t at his previous stops.
“Really, the biggest difference here is just the team atmosphere,” Walker said. “I feel like I’m really a part of a team. Like, truly. Not being cliche (but) ever since I got here, it just had a different feel. It feels more tight-knit and honestly, like with the championship, they don’t even really just speak about it too much. Honestly, it’s more so just about working towards getting another one. We don’t really talk about it. It’s just really just putting in the work to do it.”
Now Walker joins a program that particularly boasts a strong defense. That hasn’t necessarily been the case at his previous stops.
With Wink Martindale taking over the defensive coordinator duties in Ann Arbor, stewarding the system he initially fostered with the Baltimore Ravens, it’s a bit more complex than what Walker is used to running. While he also notes that football is football and as long as you understand that, you can understand a more complex scheme, Martindale’s system has the promise of putting him in different positions and making it that much easier to confuse the opposing offense compared to what he’s been in before.
“Yeah, it’s totally different. I’m used to playing quarters,” Walker said. “Just sit, play quarters, and get at the quarterback that way. But this, we run a lot of different things in different ways to mess with the quarterback. Show them different pictures. And you’ve got to be smart to be able to do that. So I’m really excited to be in this defense and just showcase my ability and what I can do. And I got great players around me too. So that’ll make it easier.”