The Preferred Experience : The Podcast
Will Barrett and Stacy "Millzer" Mills discuss things going on around the world around Prattville, Al.
The Preferred Experience : The Podcast
Special Episode : Introducing Duwan Walker To The Team
Mike Reynolds sits down with Coach Duwan Walker, the newest contributor to Prattville Alive and Th Preferred Experience
Hello and welcome in. Privately, live is going through a process of developing some more hopefully entertaining shows that we can share with the world, not just the River Region, but our guest today is DeJuan Walker. Dejuan is an old football player. Not that old, but an old football player but, more importantly, a coach In his last life. He's got a new life that we're going to talk about. But, dejuan, I just want to kind of let the viewers familiarize themselves with you. Tell us about your childhood and where you played ball in high school.
Duwan Walker:Yeah, really excited to be here. Thank you for having me today. And you know it's a small place called Cairo Georgia, cairo Georgia and South Georgia, and it sits just north of the Georgia-Florida line, just north of Tallahassee, about 45 minutes north of Tallahassee. So I grew up an old and a family rattler, so just from and I did have a little dog in me, a little bulldog, but yeah, grew up in K-Roll in a single parent home, youngest of five.
Mike Reynolds:Wow.
Duwan Walker:Yeah, so I'm a big baby today, you know. But you know, just had a God-fearing mom that did a great job pointing to us. But, you know, just had a God-fearing mom that did a great job pointing to us my oldest sister. She was 27 years old when she passed. Oh my God, yeah, I was a freshman at Troy State University.
Mike Reynolds:Which is what it was when I went to school down there for a year or two.
Duwan Walker:Exactly exactly so. Troy State I went to Troy in 92, and she passed December of 92. But I do have all of my siblings all went military. I was the only one that went to college, the first. On both sides mother and father side Went to Troy.
Duwan Walker:I walked on at Troy, Walked on at Troy State and eventually earned a scholarship. Who was the coach down there at that time? Coach Blakeney, coach Blakeney, coach Larry Blakeney. This was his second year at Troy and in his second year he actually came by the school. I was headed to the military. I was headed to the military.
Duwan Walker:A few college coaches came by the school and kind of looked at me and I was real. I mean you're talking about 150 pounds ago. I was really small and my junior year we won the state championship, went undefeated In Cairo. In Cairo and my senior year we didn't have a lot returning but I went from free safety down to Mike linebacker at about 150 pounds wet and had to play the likes of the Mike Bobo's, robert tumors and those guys. But so they, when those colleges came in, they looked at me as a linebacker where I was clearly was not a linebacker. I was a defensive back where I clearly was not a linebacker, I was a defensive back. So I had to go and walk on at Troy as a defensive back and earned a full scholarship.
Mike Reynolds:Okay, from Troy to Bill Clark as coach of the UAB Blazer football program. So you transitioned from playing in college to a coaching career. Tell us a little bit about that.
Duwan Walker:Yeah. So you know I was a. I graduated from Troy and, and, and I was really, you know I did. I worked out for a few NFL teams to try to make that dream of going to the next level in playing, and I was injured. It wasn't happening. Clearly, god said you're going in a different direction. So I tried, my, you know, just tried to be employed. You know, let's see what I could do give back to society. You wanted a job, I wanted a job, and it was time to make some money. So and I did that I went back to Cairo and entered the education field and it was then where I had a crossroads of.
Duwan Walker:About four different opportunities came in all at once, and the best one for me at that time was Coach Blakeney calling me and saying listen, I want you to come and be a graduate assistant, get your degree, work on your master's, but we want you to come back and be a grad. So I did that, I took Coach up on it and, man, what a blast. I was a graduate assistant to Tracy Rocker and Coach Wayne Boat was the defense coordinator. That had to be some fun. Oh, it was a lot of fun.
Mike Reynolds:It was a lot of fun.
Duwan Walker:You didn't make Tracy Rocker mad at any point, did you? Oh wait, I was the one that kept him calmed down. Yeah, ron Middleton, we had a coaching staff that was second to none. We really had some really good.
Mike Reynolds:I learned a lot of football from those guys, coach Blatney got, and Coach Blatney, oddly enough, coached against me when I was in high school Is that right? A small school over in West Alabama, but he had a pretty uncanny ability of attracting pretty darn good people around him.
Duwan Walker:He was really good. The coaches, I mean the things that he poured into us then we all still take today and I'm talking about a lot of us A lot of the things he said you know, in and out of practice, on and off the field. I mean, my first lesson was my first team meeting at Troy. The team meeting started at a certain time and you know, I was in there sitting down about mid-row and all of a sudden you heard the door slam Boom and after the door the whole room was quiet. It was my first college meeting and about that time you heard some guys knock on the door and Coach Blayton said don't open the door.
Mike Reynolds:They're late, they ain't coming in.
Duwan Walker:They're not coming in. It was my first opportunity to learn a lesson about time making sure you're where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there, and if you showed up on time you're late. So it was all about getting there early, making sure, and I mean it was to the point where he was going to. You know, I mean some of these guys may be on scholarship and you never. A lot of people sign a scholarship thinking that it's a done deal, but it is a year-to-year contract.
Mike Reynolds:That's the unknown about it, and I want to talk about scholarships. The transfer portal, nil, we'll talk about all that. Definitely portal. Uh, nil, we'll talk about all that, definitely back to you, evolving from an assistant at troy to bill clark's.
Duwan Walker:yeah, so, so I as during that tenure, me and coach clark coach clark was at dothan, he was the, the defense coordinator down at dothan high school and he ended up, you know, he would come up and um sit into some of our defensive meetings and all that kind of good stuff. Well, we both were taking some graduate courses together and it was one day when he pulled me to the side and said listen, prattville has offered me the job. If you come with me, I'm taking that job. And I'm like Coach, I don't know if you're going to take the job because I'm not coming. But, long story short, he's such a recruiter. But the thing that really stood out for me, he said look, he told me his vision. He said I want to take a few young men and I want to go lead some few godly men. And I want to go lead some young men. And I'm like wow, I mean, I was really intrigued with that. That was you know who I am and that really, you know, I'm always thinking about the ministry and making decisions in light of eternity. And when he told me that, I'm like, wow, now that is attractive.
Duwan Walker:So, long story short, we come to Prattville in 99. And I'm talking about late. We probably got to Prattville a month before the first game. I remember going into that first team meeting and we probably got about maybe about 21 kids in there. Four of those kids were kickers, oh yeah. And I'm thinking you know we're sitting here looking at I mean, is this baseball or are we coaching football? But he assured me at that time Prattville was probably about the fourth biggest school in the state. I mean they were in the top five and he said, no, the kids are here, they're in the halls. We got to go get them, get them out of the bleachers, that's exactly right. So yeah, that's how we started in Prattville and was here nine years and the rest is history.
Mike Reynolds:Well, you went with him to UAB and you know you go from playing in college to coaching in high school, or coaching some in college as an assistant, Then coaching in high school and back to the college level, and this time on a larger scale than, say, a Troy, but at the same time not a powerhouse football program. And yet Coach Clark had an amazing record at UAB.
Duwan Walker:Yeah, coach, is I mean he's gifted. When I say gifted, he has gifts. That can Horace Powell told me one time. And the late Horace Powell.
Mike Reynolds:If.
Duwan Walker:Horace said it. It had to be true. But listen, he told me. He said look, it's just something about that, bill Clark. He said you know, the more he talk to you, the more you just start bringing money out your pocket. So he understood and Coach just had a gift. Coach C, the late Coach C, he was one of the four coaches that Coach brought in. When I say four coaches, it was Coach C, myself and Robert Leslie was the three coaches he brought in on that initial staff. But Coach C would always say that he'd say Bill got some of his mama in him. He'd know how to really deal with all people and Coach did a really good job of meeting every level of person he met.
Mike Reynolds:All right, DeJuan. We're in a crazy world, a crazy time. Everything's going nuts around the world and it's kind of crazy in athletics, with the transfer portal being as wide open as it is now and obviously Coach Saban, who just retired, used that as a pretty good excuse to hang it up but also the NIL money, and nobody seems to have an answer to how to fix that, how to control it, how to make it equal to all of the players and schools around the country.
Duwan Walker:What are your thoughts on that? You know it's crazy, just like you said it's crazy. And a year ago I was over in Charlotte and I ran into Will Muschamp and Will was I was. He said DeJuan, this is the craziest thing. I said I mean, tell me, how were you guys handling NIL and all the things? He said it has definitely changed football.
Duwan Walker:And he used the term the toothpaste is out of the tube. He said it's late and we can't fix that part. And then he gave me a story. He said hey, I had a guy and we're on the practice field. They were in the middle of spring. He said I had one of my linebackers turn around and said coach, you know what about my NIL? This guy y'all signing are going to make more than I am. He hadn't even made it to the football field. He said we can hardly practice. So obviously we have a huge situation. And I think it was. I think I think what has happened is, before anything, any barriers were drawn. You know they pretty much started the race and now it's it's. You know they pretty much started the race and now it's it's. You know there's no regulations around it to make sure anything in competition.
Mike Reynolds:You got to have boundaries well, I don't want to inject my personal philosophy on this, but you know, for years I've been a big college fan. I would attend a big stadium with a lot of folks cheering War Eagle and I would sit there and think, wow, there are 100,000 people who probably spent a couple of thousand dollars to be here and there are kids on that field on national TV that can't afford to buy a pair of tennis shoes. There's something wrong with this. And before anything formalized, all of a sudden the NIL surfaced and now it's out of control. So is there a chance it gets real back in in the near future?
Duwan Walker:Obviously it could be corralled, but it needs to happen quick. It's almost like a leak. If you let a leak go long enough, you're going to have a really bad problem. Right now, I think we're just in the beginning of it. It needs to be corralled quickly and that's through legislation and because you know, if you don't have legislation or any kind of regulations, anything will be chaotic, especially in competition.
Mike Reynolds:Well, and the NCAA has got to take a lead. You know, I mean, they're the elephant in the room in terms of college athletics. Okay, let's talk about the latest chapter in your life. Because of kids, because of your association with it at all levels playing as a kid all the way through coaching in college kids are the future, Exactly, and I firmly believe again, I don't want to inject my personal philosophy, but we tend to blame the younger generation for things they're not really responsible for, and I know you agree with that, and that's why you became involved in the current chapter of your life, high ed. Tell us what that is and how everything is working out.
Duwan Walker:Exactly. I appreciate that High ed is hyper-individualized education design and what it is designed to do is transition students into careers Early on. When we developed this software, it was surrounded by student athletes and I say that because I had the opportunity to be a player in high school, had the opportunity to be a coach in high school, a player in college and a coach in college and in the process of recruiting and really looking at all the different areas for student-athlete from their career in high school to transition into college or to into whatever they go into, it's a lot of gaps.
Mike Reynolds:So for a simple-minded guy like me, the best way I can understand this it's software that's been developed to basically keep score for the kids to track their education in. I guess now in junior high school, down in the eighth grade years, is that right?
Duwan Walker:Yeah, sixth grade, sixth grade Okay.
Mike Reynolds:So higher elementary school all the way through their high school days and it's not Originally, I think in your mind was set up for athletes, right, but it's not just for athletes Not just for athletes, that's right.
Duwan Walker:It's for every student and it has a little something for everybody. And we also have different access from the student and parent access to teacher, access to admin, access all the way to the central office, to where now we can target recruit, if you will, to those students that may need a little bit extra. And we color code that to make it simple for the end user. So now we know exactly where to give attention and to give some momentum and access to a single parent, let's say, for instance, grandmothers Grandmothers have really stood in the gap for a long time Single parents Helping that student transition into whatever that dream may be. It was really developed for that end user so it can be user friendly, where grandma may not know exactly the ins and outs, but grandma knows her colors. If you're red, we know you need help.
Mike Reynolds:So to simplify this for the folks who may be watching and don't really understand it, this is a software product that's not very expensive, that the school systems public and private can purchase. Exactly private can purchase Exactly, and it helps kids to, first and foremost, establish a goal which is pretty important, right? And then it also develops a career path, or helps them develop their own career path, whether it be a technical training environment, education or an academic.
Duwan Walker:That's exactly right. Students have to choose a track and it allows them to choose a track of hey, when I graduate, I'm going to college or I'm going to the military, or I'm going directly to the workforce. And what we do? We recruit the third party to make sure they have those opportunities. So those colleges when they come to that school, they will know the students that have chosen that college before they even started recruiting them. Same thing for military I may want to go to the Navy or the Army or the National Guard. They know exactly, even down to the ninth grader, that have chosen them before they even started the process.
Mike Reynolds:And it's affordable. I'm a taxpayer, so I'm worried about where my money is spent, as most Americans should be. A few bucks a kid is all it costs. It's not very expensive.
Duwan Walker:That's exactly right. It's all depending on the number of students and it's on a scale the more students, obviously, the less it is, and the more years of a contract, the less it is. But you know, at the end of the day it's more, and this is what we're seeing. We're having more meetings now with mayors and economic developers.
Duwan Walker:Workforce development people, workforce development people to now. You know those companies. We have partners that have, like Buffalo Rocks and the Lear Corporations, baptist Health. All those people partner to make sure we have a smooth transition for those students that's interested and to sign the contract prior to graduation.
Mike Reynolds:So students become job seekers, whether they're on the road to the professional world of athletics or whether they're on the road to a technical job at a car plant, auto plant. But then it also marries up the job providers, the employers, who are looking for those job seekers.
Duwan Walker:Exactly right, and you know that's the thing, for let's say, for instance, if I'm a student and I want to go to college, it will also show you the admissions requirements for the different colleges and let you know where you are on that hierarchy as far as transitioning to those and the minimum academic scholarships and what's available at those colleges. And this is for year and two-year colleges. Hiedcom how do folks look you up? H-i-e-d-g-m-scom, hiedgmscom. Now, gms is a guidance management system. We're the very first guidance management system for students to transition into careers.
Mike Reynolds:All right, we're going to wrap up. I've enjoyed it. This is great. We're going to do some more of these. We're going to try to twist your arm and get you involved in some of our coverage for high school in the fall. But as we close, I want to ask you one question, and you've got to be honest with me have you ever been in Bill Clark's doghouse?
Duwan Walker:I stay in Bill Clark's doghouse. Let been in Bill Clark's doghouse. I stay in Bill Clark's doghouse. Let me tell you, hey, I'd have made a room in Bill Clark's doghouse. But let me tell you, coaches, we're like brothers. I mean he can start a sentence and I'll finish it, or I can start to finish. Listen, coach would be in the shower. Coming out the shower, He'll call me. Hey, listen, this is what I thought about. You know, but Coach is. I mean, you got to love the guy. I'm going to tell you he's different in his own way, that the guy is greatness.
Mike Reynolds:And you don't see a lot of these guys but he is. I was sorry to see him retire, but he had health issues. He had some pain in his back.
Duwan Walker:Well, I'll say this. I'll say this we, you know those guys the Bill Clarks, the Coach Sabans those guys we need around the game and they do so much and we talked about this prior but they do so much to help develop our leaders for tomorrow and you know, they pour so much into coaches and that's why you see their trees branch so good. I mean, they have branches everywhere to where the guys that have been under them are proven guys that have just used that same process to develop their teams and their communities.
Mike Reynolds:Dejuan it's been a pleasure. We're going to reach out to Coach Bill Clark and see if we can't get you and him in here to do one of these little chit-chats one day, to tell some funny stories.
Duwan Walker:We need to. We got a lot on each other.
Mike Reynolds:Thanks, DeJuan.
Duwan Walker:Walker. Thank you, sir.