Walker Resigns Post at SFA
12/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 21, 2005
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin athletics department officials announced Wednesday the departure of longtime assistant football coach Robert Walker. Walker, who served on the Lumberjack coaching staff in various capacities for nine years, recently resigned his post to take over as the head football coach at East Central High School, a Class 5A school in the San Antonio school district.
Walker spent nine years total in two different stints as a member of the Lumberjack coaching staff. He first worked with the program in 1993 and '94, then returned to SFA in 1999. Walker has coached tight ends, running backs and the offensive line at various points in his career with the 'Jacks. Most recently, he served as the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator under first-year head coach Robert McFarland.
"First of all, I can't say thank you enough to Robert for the job he has done here at SFA," McFarland said. "He's truly been an asset to the program, and it's sad to see him go. On the other hand, I'm excited for the opportunity he has to be a head coach again, and the opportunity for him to be able to work with his brothers, who are all now in the coaching profession. I know that's been a goal of his for a long time, and it's good to see that happen."
McFarland and Walker first worked together as assistant coaches on the Lumberjack staff.
"I'm not just losing a good football coach," McFarland said. "I feel like I'm also losing a good friend."
The move to East Central will mark Walker's third venture into the high school coaching ranks. He spent the four years between his stops at SFA as the head coach at Ellison High School in Killeen. While there, Walker's teams won three district titles, reached the playoffs every year and went 41-9 combined. Walker was named District Coach of the Year three of his four years at Ellison and was twice named Killeen Daily Herald Super Team Coach of the Year. Walker was also selected to coach the Texas squad in the 1998 Texas vs. California High School All-Star Shrine game. Before taking his first assignment with SFA, Walker made coaching stops at Anahuac, Newton, Sabine Pass, Woodville and Overton.
Walker is a 1984 graduate of SFA. His son, Vince, was a four-year letterwinner for the Lumberjacks from 1998 to 2001 and signed with the NFL's Tennessee Titans following his SFA career. Walker and his wife, Debbie, are also the parents of a daughter, Linsey, a junior at SFA.
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