Matt Walter is the new strength and conditioning/receivers/special teams coach for the Emporia State football team. And, oh yeah, he will also help with academics.
Walter might have a tough time fitting his title on a business card, but it’s a welcome change for a man who spent the last four seasons as strictly the strength and conditioning coach at New Mexico State.
“Truthfully I was there and bored isn’t the right word, but I was almost complacent,” Walter said. “I was ready to do something more than what I was doing, even though the pay is good and it is a full-time job. ... It was Division I and that’s great and all, but that’s not my goal. My goal is to be a head football coach one day, and I didn’t want to get pigeonholed in just being a strength and conditioning coach. So that was the most appealing part for me was that he wanted me to do all these other parts of the program.”
When former strength and conditioning coach Travis Fox left the program to go into pharmaceutical sales, Walter came to mind immediately for coach Garin Higgins. Walter played fullback for Higgins at Northwestern Oklahoma State and helped NWOSU win a National Championship in 1999. After his playing career ended, he joined Higgins’ staff as a graduate assistant in 2001.
Every assistant Higgins has hired at Emporia State has either coached or played for him. Co-offensive coordinator Gary Manual was in the same backfield with Walter at Northwestern Oklahoma State and then joined Higgins’ staff as a graduate assistant at the same time as Walter. Walter was a perfect fit for Higgins’ keep-it-in-the-family approach.
“He’s been at Division I but he’s also been at Northwestern Oklahoma State with me and he’s been at Southeastern Louisiana, which is kind of in between,” Higgins said. “So he’s seen all levels of football and he’s adapted very well to our football program. He understands what we want as a football program and what we expect out of our players, because again, he’s worked with me before and he’s played for me. As soon as I knew that he was interested in this job, there was no hesitation that he fit the things that we were looking for to find a replacement for Coach Fox.”
Walter has spent the last five seasons working on Hal Mumme’s staff — first at Southeastern Louisiana then at New Mexico State. Mumme is known as one of the innovators of the spread offense.
The Hornets also run the spread, although they use the run more than Mumme’s air-raid offense.
“Passing-game wise he’s going to bring a lot to the table,” Higgins said. “Hal Mumme is basically the one who taught (Texas Tech coach) Mike Leach, so Matt’s going to bring a lot to the table with that, being involved with that type of offense.”
Walter has already brought some of his knowledge of the passing game to the ESU quarterbacks and receivers. He is not allowed to work with the players on the field out of season because of NCAA rules; however, he has given the quarterbacks and receivers instructions on what to work on, incorporating some of what he learned from Mumme.
“I learned how to be efficient in practice and repetition with the air game,” Walter said. “Catching the ball, throwing the ball, how to enhance those players abilities’ and make it second nature. He was very meticulous about that.”
Meticulous might also be the best way to describe Walter’s approach to strength and conditioning. Walter has his players warm up for 25 minutes before they start their workout and every lift has a purpose. He trains his players standing up, because football is played on your feet.
Junior receiver Chris Woods transferred to Emporia State last fall from New Mexico State on the advice of Walter, and he knew what to expect when Walter arrived.
“He demands for you to go 100 percent in everything you do,” Woods said. “You miss a weight or a rep and you’ve got to make it up. He holds everyone accountable.”
Walter’s nickname is “The Punisher” and he has already taken to changing the approach of the Hornets’ weight training and conditioning.
“A lot of it is mental toughness,” Walter said. “We have a lot of young guys and I’m going to push them in a way they’ve never been pushed physically. They can do a lot more than they think they can physically. They don’t understand that, but after three weeks they’re starting to.”
Sophomore receiver Matt Coursen said, surprisingly, they’re even enjoying Walter’s demanding tactics.
“With running and conditioning, there’s a lot more positive look to it,” Coursen said. “He drives us and it makes us want to run harder, instead of telling us we have to. He takes a lot more pride in his job, and he’s here to do one thing and that’s what he does and each coach has his speciality and he’s really good at what he does.”
While Walter has a nickname that insinuates a tough exterior, the Hornets are finding that he is pretty happy-go-lucky to finally be at a place where he’s no longer just a strength coach.
“When he came in we all knew his nickname was the Punisher and we kind of all were a little bit intimidated by him, but he’s a really good guy and he’ll listen to you and talk to you,” Coursen said. “He wanted to know everybody’s name. I tried to help him out when everybody was coming in marking off names, making sure everybody was here. He said, ‘Don’t help me. I want to go up and ask everybody their names.’ He was excited about getting in and meeting everybody and being on a personal level with everyone. I thought that brought out some character in him.”