Deone Walker on Mark Stoops: 'He's like the uncle you always wished for'

Going into the 2024 season, expectations are sky high for Kentucky defensive lineman Deone Walker. He’s hoping to bring that same level of expectation to the team’s campaign.

But there’s one thing that has made Walker such a compelling representative for Big Blue Nation. He’s as bought in as they come, starting with his allegiance to head coach Mark Stoops.

“He’s like the uncle you always wished for. He is a great coach and a great person,” Deone Walker said at SEC Media Days. “He is a big loyalty guy. I’m a big loyalty guy. He is not going to lie to you. He is going to tell you the truth no matter if it’s happy, sad, going to make you mad, if it’s mean because he knows — everybody knows that he is saying it from a point of I want you to be the best version of yourself.”

The best version of Walker is pretty darned good. The veteran defensive tackle was a hugely disruptive presence on the defensive front last season.

Deone Walker finished his 2023 campaign with 55 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss, 7.5 sacks and two passes defended.

Getting him back for the 2024 season was always going to be a huge key for Kentucky. And for a brief period, it looked like that might be in jeopardy.

That was because coach Mark Stoops was hearing from Texas A&M, garnering interest in the job opening there.

“After our Louisville game, you know, a bunch of that talk was being made. I actually called him, you know. Like, ‘Coach, if you’re going to leave, just tell me. Let me know now,’” Walker recalled. “But he said that he was going to stay loyal to me, stay loyal to the university. So I had to do that for him.”

Now both will be back, and the Kentucky defense will certainly be the better for it.

Can the unit pick up its play enough to push the Wildcats to new heights under Stoops? There have been some considerable highs already, and the floor has definitely been raised.

The good news is Kentucky fans will find out what the ceiling looks like under Stoops. He’s back. His players love that.

“He’s a great person. He’s family person, you know. He’s not just a great coach. You can tell, like, he has all the right morals too, you know,” Deone Walker said. “He’s a loyalty person and he’s going to reward hard work over everything.”