The Football Championship Subdivision’s most respected All-America selection committee needed to see only four games from Tre Walker to consider the Idaho junior among the nation’s top talents.
That certainly bodes well for the next season, an 11-game campaign that’s just around the corner.
UI’s run-wrecking middle linebacker was named a first-team All-American by STATS FCS on Monday, becoming the first Vandal to garner that honor since the team rejoined the lower level of Division I play in 2018.
Senior punter Cade Coffey earned second-team plaudits for the second time in three seasons.
Walker was a unanimous first-team All-Big Sky pick after topping the conference in per-game tackling at 13.5. Despite missing two of UI’s six games, he racked up 54 stops. Walker was a top-10 finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which recognizes the best FCS defender.
The Fresno, Calif., product, who boasts track-down speed and shell-shattering hitting capacities, pulled in a sophomore All-America nod from HERO Sports in 2019.
Coffey, from Rathdrum, led the Big Sky in net punting average at 44 yards — the No. 2 single-season mark in UI history. He dropped 16 of 26 punt attempts inside opponents’ 20-yard lines during what he termed the most successful season of his career.
Over the past 13 seasons, Vandal punters have totaled 14 All-America honors.
The Vandals have big shoes to fill with Coffey, a four-year specialist starter, electing to forgo a final year of eligibility.
Walker was joined on the first team by fellow Big Sky linebackers Conner Mortensen (Weber State) and La’akea Kaho’ohanohano-Davis (Southern Utah).
Eastern Washington’s Eric Barriere was named first-team All-American quarterback. UC Davis punter Daniel Whelan was a first-teamer.
Other Big Sky picks include: first-team Weber State offensive tackle Ty Whitworth, second-team EWU wide receiver Talolo Limu-Jones and second-team Weber State kick returner Rashid Shaheed.
