Why is Walker Wood leaving Kentucky? ‘I want to go play football again.’
Walker Wood had a hard time relating to his University of Kentucky teammates when they talked about returning home for the holidays. His Thanksgiving destination was a couple miles away from campus.
It won’t be anymore. Wood, who in December entered his name into the NCAA’s transfer portal, announced Tuesday that he’ll be transferring to McNeese State following his graduation from UK in May.
McNeese State, located in Lake Charles, La., is more than 900 miles away from Lexington, where Wood made a name for himself as a standout at Lafayette High School. It’s a 14-hour drive and there are no direct flights out of Lexington.
His mom hoped he might end up in Ohio or Tennessee, if not elsewhere in state.
“I’ll be one of the kids farthest away from home on this team,” Wood told the Herald-Leader in a phone interview Tuesday. “That’s funny ‘cause it’s the exact opposite here. ... This is a lot further than Tennessee or Ohio, so we’ll all have to adjust, I guess.”
Wood came to Kentucky as a three-star prospect in the 2017 signing class. He enrolled in January 2017 but had to battle back from a knee injury suffered in his final high school game before undergoing a second surgery on his throwing arm during his freshman year. For part of the 2019 season he was listed as the No. 2 quarterback on Kentucky’s depth chart but did not make his Wildcats debut until the fourth quarter of a 38-14 win at Vanderbilt.
He played the next week in Kentucky’s 50-7 win over UT Martin. That appearance was his last for his hometown school.
Fans and media speculated before and during Wood’s time at Kentucky that a change of position might create the opportunity for more playing time with the Wildcats. He was cognizant of that, but it was never anything more than outside talk. UK’s coaches never brought up a position change, he said.
“I’m sure it was an option if I would have exercised that thought with the coaches, but when I went to Coach (Mark) Stoops at the end of the season, he knew where my heart was and I knew where my heart was, and my heart was at quarterback. It was never much of a thought for me.”
Transferring
Before it became public knowledge that Wood was leaving the program, two coaches announced their own transfers. Special teams coordinator Dean Hood and quality control assistant Walt Wells were named the head coaches of Murray State and Eastern Kentucky, respectively, within the span of a week.
Once Wood’s decision was known, he instantly was linked to both programs. Each coach continued to work with UK during its preparation for the Belk Bowl, and Wood remained with the team through that event, but they all agreed to not discuss their futures with one another until after the season.
Wood said both men were open to reconnecting this spring “if I was still homeless,” but that proved not to be the case.
“Just the way it worked out, I found my spot maybe quicker than I thought I would,” Wood said.
McNeese State wasn’t even on his radar before January. The Cowboys contacted Wood less than two weeks after they hired Frank Wilson, formerly the head coach at Texas-San Antonio, as their new head coach.
“They called and offered me and kept calling,” Wood said. “I was like, ‘Well, they keep calling, I might as well take a visit.’ I ended up loving it and I’m excited to get down there.”
The Cowboys’ spring roster features five returning quarterbacks, including incumbent starter Cody Orgeron, a senior who threw for 2,628 yards and 24 touchdowns. Wood is eager to push Orgeron and earn more than the ephemeral playing time that existed for him in Lexington.
He’s also eager to complete a master’s degree. There are a few options he’s considering, including criminal justice.
“I want to be the quarterback and I want to win championships and win a lot of ball games,” Wood said. “I think that’s what we all want, and I just hope I can go down to McNeese and make that team better and make the people around me better, and hopefully they can do the same for me.”
Wood’s dream can be distilled even further than that.
“I want to go play football again,” he said.
