Football: Walters finally finds himself at Notre Dame
By KATIE McVOY
Associate Sports Editor
Life has a funny way of working out. That's something to which Notre Dame secondary coach Trent Walters can attest.
Nine years ago Walters worked under defensive coordinator Bob Davie at Texas A&M before Davie came to Notre Dame. When he arrived in South Bend, Davie wanted Walters to come with him and coach the secondary. And that left Walters in a tough position.
"I always wanted to coach here and one time I was at Texas A&M, Bob Davie [who had just started his first year as Notre Dame's defensive coordinator] was considering me for a position here and I thought about it, thought about it," Walters said. "My wife said, `Why go to Notre Dame, why don't you just stay here at Texas A&M?' But just because it was Notre Dame I considered it."
Although Walters passed over Notre Dame in favor of Texas A&M, just weeks later he accepted a job with the Minnesota Vikings.
However, nine years later, he found Notre Dame calling again. When Walters heard former Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham, who coached his son Trent, was on his way to Notre Dame and Minnesota head coach Dennis Green was about to be fired from the Vikings, it seemed like it was time to start looking toward South Bend one more time.
"Denny was in the process of leaving the Vikings and he said, `Well this tenure is going to run off,'" Walters said. "He's the one who got to let me know ahead of time that he might be stepping down and that affected me to call Ty and start working on things. If you're going to be gone, then I'm going to be gone somewhere."
So Walters ended up at Notre Dame.
The Indiana graduate is back in the state, leaving in 1980 after coaching the Hoosier secondary for eight years. He began his coaching career with Indiana overseeing the freshmen and junior varsity team in 1968.
Now, 21 years after leaving Indiana, Walters knows that things have a funny way of working out. He's back in the state and, for the first time, at Notre Dame.
"You never know how things are going to work out," Walters said. "The Lord has a way of working things out and they'll fall into place."
All Sports Stories for Friday, April 26, 2002
