Walker Valley High School 2023

Team Profile

Photos by Dawn Carson

Q & A With Coach Drew Akins

Coach Drew Akins of Walker Valley High School

Q. How would you characterize this year’s team?

A. All the potential.

Q. What will be the keys to your success?

A. Can we run the ball and stop the run.

Q. Who will be your key leaders on the team?

A. Evan Schwarzl, Jacob Hollingsworth, Ty Parker, Zeke Garrison, and Conner Phillips.

Q. What are your biggest reasons for optimism?

A. Our physical size and ability on the offensive and defensive front and experience/talent at QB.

Q. What will keep you up at night?

A. Always injuries and depth.

Q. Any lessons learned from last year?

A. We lost several games by two scores or less, so learning to win those close games is key.

Q. Will we see anything different this year?

A. Scheme always changes slightly but the effort and passion we play with should always look the same.

Q. How would you characterize your team’s speed?

A. We have the speed and athleticism to compete, but always training to get faster.

Stats

Coach name: Drew Akins (5 yrs. as a head coach, 5th as head coach at Walker Valley)

Division/Class: TN I-5A

2022 Overall Record: 5-7

2022 District Finish: 2nd

Mascot: Mustangs

2023 Schedule

August

18 Notre Dame (H)

25 Polk Co. (A)

September

1 Cleveland (H)

8 Bradley Central (H)

15 Ooltewah (A)

22 Rhea Co. (H)

29 Howard (H)

October 

6 East Hamilton (A)

20 PURE Academy (H)

26 McMinn Co. (A)

Coach’s View

With the new TSSAA region schedules we are front loaded with non-region games. The back end of our schedule will determine our playoff picture. To me, this is a great opportunity to use games early in the year to build a strong identity for our team before getting to the games that ultimately matter in determining playoff seeding and hosting opportunities. Our region is very talented and all have a great
opportunity to win.

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