AMHERST — UMass’ new quarterback coach never played the position. Frederick Walker was a receiver in high school in Mississippi before an injury ended his senior season at Madison Central.
He joined Dan Mullens’ coaching staff at Mississippi State on a volunteer basis as an undergrad in Starkville, Miss., and was responsible for relaying play calls to quarterbacks Tyler Russell and Dak Prescott.
“It does give me a unique perspective,” Walker said. “I understand how tied in the receivers are to the quarterback, but it also helps me in the sense of understanding what the quarterback has to get accomplished for the receivers to be successful.”
He is in his first year as a quarterback coach and in Amherst after instructing wide receivers at Murray State last season. Walker has worked with David Cutliffe at Duke (and current New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones) and was an offensive analyst and graduate assistant at Troy with UMass alumn Neal Brown. Walker built relationships in the coaching profession that eventually tied him to UMass coach Walt Bell. He worked with former UMass offensive coordinator Angelo Mirando at Mississippi State, and Mirando recommended Walker to Bell to replace Fredi Kneighten, who coached quarterbacks and wide receivers last season before moving on to Utah State.
Bell spoke to more mutual friends like Georgia Tech’s Nate Burton, Texas Tech’s Derek Jones and Duke’s Trooper Taylor before bringing Walker in for an interview. That turned into a two-way conversation where Walker interviewed Bell as much as the other way around. Walker asked him, “what’s the vision, what’s the identity?”
“His vision for this team on this program and his identity was something that I could get behind,” Walker said. “Just the I guess the will to win and tenacity, from both of us, you know, one of the biggest things (is) coach Bell does a really good job of making sure we understand the importance of winning, not just on the field but off the field.”
Since he was hired in February, Walker has been tasked with developing a crowded, diverse quarterback room amidst fierce competition for a starting spot. Returner Garrett Dzuro, Colorado transfer Tyler Lytle and converted wide receiver Zamar Wise battled for the role throughout the spring, and Bell made it clear incoming true freshman Brady Olson would join the mix this fall.
“It’s been a rewarding. It’s also been challenging, it’s been a lot of fun,” Walker said. “As I tell the quarterbacks now, when you focus on just the process of becoming when nothing else matters you surrender the outcome and so we just focus on that process of becoming and we have fun in that process and that’s why it’s so much fun to do.”
Lytle separated from the pack throughout the first half of camp and currently tops the depth chart despite missing more than a week with a groin injury. The Redondo Beach, Calif., native spent his time on the sidelines mentally repping and learning.
“Kind of playing each play on my own in my head and watching the defense and ‘Okay, I would’ve went here,’ just trying to mentally stretch myself every day, get those reps, even though I’m not physically doing it,” he said. “If you go to the right place with the ball, you’re gonna be okay. As an older guy, you’re able to help younger guys out, you understand the game a lot better, and it slows down for you. So you’re able to process and react a lot faster.”
As much as the quarterback room fostered competition, it was also a space for collaboration.
“I come off the field you know, I’m asking Brady, ‘hey, what did you see there?’ It’s always a competition, but we’re always collaborating, trying to do what’s best for the team,” Lytle said. “I’m pushing them and they’re pushing me. Competition just raises the standard in the room and makes everybody better. So you know, I think we’ve all made each other better this offseason.”
Walker noticed the group’s exuberance from the beginning. The quarterbacks sprinted from the practice field to the meeting room the first day. He challenged them to maintain that enthusiasm.
“Don’t just do that on the first day, make sure you’re doing that on day 16. Make sure you’re doing that on game eight, game 12, bowl game, like we’ve got to continue to have that same sense of urgency and that’s what they’ve done a really good job of,” Walker said. “Every single day, which is our motto, every day. and so every single day they have that same sense of urgency, and they come and willing to work and willing to learn.”
Walker can teach from a font of experience with elite quarterbacks and those connected to them. Mullen was an offensive coordinator at Florida before he took over the Bulldogs and coached Tim Tebow. Cutliffe is famously linked with both Peyton and Eli Manning. Walker sponged knowledge from those type of people and melded it with his own experience.
“Great teacher in terms of life, as well as football, and really stresses the level of detail on it takes to be successful at this position,” Lytle said. “Talking about the guys, he’s been around, just stressing the amount of detail, hard work and consistency that it takes to be great. I think he’s really helped me in that aspect.”
Walker’s presence allows Bell comfort in leaving the quarterback room to its own devices so he can focus on the team as a whole and his new (self-appointed) role as offensive coordinator.
“It allows me to be a coordinator, be more involved in other position groups, be more involved with the offense in its entirety and be able to bounce from place to place feeling good about quarterbacks and how they’re being prepared,” Bell said.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.