DL John Walker Growing Closer With New Gators Coaches, Sets Return Visit

Oscelola (Fla.) defensive lineman John Walker discusses his relationship with new Florida Gators coaches Sean Spencer and Billy Napier.

Photo: John Walker; Credit: Zach Goodall

The Florida Gators are aiming to add not one but two class of 2023 defensive linemen from Osceola (Fla.) to their future roster, having gained ground in the recruitment of Derrick LeBlanc and strengthening their pitch to his fellow trench-mate John Walker.

Walker, freshly removed from an impressive performance at Under Armour's Next Miami camp on Sunday, shared with AllGators how the new Gators' coaching staff has pursued his services and broke down his performance during the event.

"I feel I did okay. You know, not my best. I'm a shoulder pads type of person," Walker explained. "I'm not the guy that plays, you know, football with just t-shirts and pants like that. But I feel like I did okay. You know, going against some of the best guys in the nation. It was fun competing and having fun."

Now that the competition is over and the dead period will be lifted at the beginning of March, Walker is redirecting his attention to recruiting. He had a busy month of January, taking three school visits including one to Florida, and he is planning a return trip to UF alongside LeBlanc on March 5.

"Everyone [is] hitting me up every single day. I'm blessed to be in that position and everything," Walker said about his recruitment. "The schools I visited in the past month, it was Florida, Michigan and Penn State. For all three schools, I like the bond with the coaches. I like the facility. I want to get to know more about the facility and more about them."

Walker has already begun to build relationships with Gators defensive line coach Sean Spencer and head coach Billy Napier. Although he appreciated Florida's previous coaching staff, the Osceola product claims to already have a stronger relationship with Spencer than he had with previous defensive line coach David Turner, and has bonded well with Napier as well.

"Coach Spence, he's hit me up more than coach Turner. And I mean, coach Spence, he's a good dude. We talked ball. You know, we don't only talk ball, we talk about you know, family, things like that," Walker shared. "I like guys like that because I'm gonna be with them for like, three to four years. And I feel like coach [Spencer] is a good dude to be around."

As for Napier, "he's a good dude," Walker said. "He's a country dude a little bit but he's a good dude. I had a good time talking to him. He sat down with me and my family. We talked ball, talked business, things like that."

Similar to LeBlanc, Walker projects as a three-technique defensive tackle at the next level who can thrive as a pass rusher against offensive guards. That being said, he is capable of playing nose tackle and making a major impact as a run defender as well due to his power, which can be seen by an extremely effective bull-rush.

"Just my power, my get off," Walker said regarding the strengths of his game. "I have aggressive, powerful hands. And how I pursue the ball."

In his three-year varsity career, Walker has accumulated 175 tackles, 31 sacks and 41 tackles for loss. 

As things stand, Florida is the only visit Walker has planned in the month of March. An admitted "last-minute type of person," other visits may be planned in the near future, although Walker has already determined that he will officially visit Ohio State, USC and Michigan over the summer.

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