Walker joins newly tabbed defensive coordinator Hayden Barney on the defensive side of the ball heading into the summer break. In August, former Lancer and Ogden native Marcus Kemp returned to his alma mater as an offensive assistant following a prolific career.

The former Ute first coached defenses at Davis under his former coach, Ryan Bishop, and later joined Scott Ditty at Viewmont for four winning seasons from 2015 to 2018. Walker stepped away in 2019 for his athletic performance startup, Kongo Sports.

Layton’s quarterbacks coach, Trevor Evans, pitched Walker on their need for a defensive specialist ahead of Thomas’ third season. Thomas and Walker already carry a working relationship as competing defensive coordinators when Thomas coached defenses at Syracuse.

“It was kind of a shocker to see the level of involvement at Layton,” Walker said. “There’s a lot of kids at these optional spring practices so it’s cool to see the community buy-in. … One thing we had to really work on at Viewmont that’s kind of the same thing here is just a belief that you’re good enough to win the games against the teams everyone’s talking about.”

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Opening the season 4-1, Layton stumbled through its final six games to finish 4-7 overall as the last-place program in Region 1. The Lancers lent opponents 333 yards per game, including an average of 457 yards during their four final matchups

Barney’s promotion and the addition of Walker signal change for the defense. In just a short time, Thomas said the trio’s meetings and collaboration leave him encouraged.

“I gave him a plan for what I needed for right now and how it could evolve down the road,” Thomas said. “I know his knowledge of the game out there. … He’s just been adapting with what we already had installed and we’ve taken some of his ideas.”

A two-time Mountain West selection at Utah, Walker brings a solid linebacker resume. As a senior, Walker led the Utes with 118 total tackles and entered the 2012 NFL Draft as a projected late-round selection before a foot injury altered his trajectory.

Brief stays in Miami and Seattle eventually brought Walker back to Davis County, where the former Dart founded and grew Kongo Athletic Club from a small, rented location in Bountiful to a 50,000-square-foot multipurpose facility a minute down the road from Farmington High.

“I didn’t have any plan other than ‘I’m going to go play in the NFL’ to be completely honest,” Walker said. “I had an unfortunate foot injury that pushed me out of possibly getting drafted in the later rounds to a free-agent deal, so I didn’t really have a backup plan.”

After spending six months as a medical salesman, Walker ran with an idea for individualized training for Davis County athletes. The business evolved into a bedrock for competitive basketball and 7-on-7 football tournaments, with Walker dreaming up and opening his Farmington facility in 2023.

A post-football gamble saw Walker giving back in his own way.

“It wasn’t what I (planned) on but I’ve loved it ever since,” Walker said. “People come up to me and say ‘which one’s your kid,’ and I’ve never had a kid in the program. I have a 9-year-old (girl) and a 3-year-old little boy, so I won’t have a kid in the program. … It’s something I’ve always thought Davis County needed, a high-end performance facility.

“The youth in (Davis) didn’t get the credit they deserved. We have really good talent out here and we weren’t sending enough of them to go play college sports.”

Now, Walker’s the latest in a list of football Utahns joining Thomas’ mission.

“He loves Layton football,” Walker said. “That’s kind of the number one thing you need out of a head coach. I know he wants to build a winning program badly and he wants to be a top program in Region 1 so I like that he’s bought 250% into the kids, and that passion led me to want to help him make those dreams a reality.”

Connect with sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.