Walker Took Long Road to Westwood

DeWayne Walker, UCLA’s first-year defensive coordinator, grew up in Los Angeles but was not a fan of the Bruins when he was young.

“I used to live on 30th and Vermont, right by the Coliseum,” Walker said. “So obviously, growing up, SC was the closest and I used to go over there and watch them practice. It was during the time when they had O.J., Anthony Davis and all of those guys. UCLA was around, but it was really all about USC back then.”

Walker’s view of UCLA changed when he was 14 and his family moved to Pasadena. It was there that Walker learned more about the Bruins because of Blair High running backs Kermit Johnson and James McAlister, who played together at UCLA in 1972 and 1973.

“They made us start paying attention to UCLA, which also had other Pasadena guys like Johnny Lynn playing on the team,” said Walker, 45, who attended Muir High and Pasadena City College before he was a two-year starting cornerback at the University of Minnesota.

After the end of his playing career -- which included stops in the United States Football League and Canadian Football League -- Walker took the long road to UCLA as a coach.

He started in the junior college ranks at Mt. San Antonio in Walnut, then worked at Utah State, Brigham Young, Oklahoma State and California before moving to the NFL. Through the league’s minority coaching internship, he got a job with San Francisco. After a stop in New England, he moved back to the college level ... at USC.

In 2001, his one season working with the Trojans and Pete Carroll, who coached with Walker when he was with the 49ers and Patriots, USC’s secondary excelled with 19 interceptions while giving up only 11 touchdown passes.

“When I left SC, I was pretty much done with college in my mind,” said Walker, who left the Trojans to work as secondary coach under Lynn for the New York Giants in 2002. “I was ready to do what I can to make it a career as an NFL coach. I never really thought about going back to college and being a coordinator.”

But that changed once UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell contacted him.

After spending four seasons in the NFL -- two with the Giants and two with the Washington Redskins -- Walker finally connected with the Bruins.

“I really didn’t think about UCLA until this opportunity came up,” Walker said. “I called around and talked to a lot of people and that made me reevaluate my career choices.

“It came down that this was a pretty good fit for me. It gives me a chance to put down some things that I’ve learned over the years. I have a chance to see what I can do. I’m glad I’m here.”

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UCLA has sold 37,500 season tickets this year compared with 32,000 last season.... Dorrell said receivers Marcus Everett (hamstring) and Gavin Ketchum (quadriceps) are expected to play in the opener against Utah on Sept. 2 at the Rose Bowl, but Joe Cowan (knee) has been ruled out.