January 22nd, 2025 6:00am
From Pace University sports information:
PLEASANTVILLE, NY (Jan. 21, 2025) - As of Tuesday afternoon, Pace Athletics, along with Athletic Director, Mark Brown, is happy to announce that Chad Walker is making his return to Pace University's Football program as its head coach for the 2025 season.
"First off I would like to thank President Krislov, Mark Brown, Mike Winn, and the rest of the search committee for giving me this opportunity to lead the Pace University Football Program into the future," new hire Walker states.
Walker was part of the Setters' coaching staff as an Offensive Coordinator and Quarterback Coach during the 2014-2016 seasons. Throughout that time, he put together an offensive crew that recorded the most points in a game since 2005 in the 2014 season while recruiting some of the most well-known names in Pace football history like Jalen Bien-Aime, Jah'Sheem Martin, and Prince Unaegbu. Not only did he bring in on-field success, but he also put together academic success by assisting in the increase of the overall team grade point average (GPA) from 2.4 in 2014 to 3.08 by 2016.
"We are fired up to come back home to Pace University, a place that we hold dear to our hearts," Walker proclaims. "I've always believed that Pace University was one of the most underrated universities in the country and has so much to provide students from diverse academic curriculum, career preparation, internship opportunities, and the best location in the World."
Upon leaving Pace, Walker made his way down to the sunshine state of Florida where he continued to expand his resume in terms of recruiting and fundraising and was even named Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) 2A District Coach of the Year; this being one of the many awards he received. As the Director of Operations at an Elite Performance Center in Tampa, the Compound powered by Yo Murphy Performance, Walker oversaw recruitment, evaluation, and training alongside major NFL names of Randy Moss, Yo Murphy, Warren Sapp, and more. Additionally, he recruited future NFL stars Darius Leonard (2018 Defensive ROY,) 1st Round Draft Pick Tytus Howard, and All-Pro Selection Jessie Bates.
At the Lauren's First and Goal Foundation, Walker assisted in managing logistics for the country's largest one-day non-profit high school football camp while raising over $2 million for Pediatric Brain Tumor Research and Cancer Services. After the COVID-19 Public Health crisis, Walker continued to make his mark in the fundraising realm when he helped organize and secure speakers for the LFG Virtual Coaches Clinic (2021-24) with 175+ college and NFL coaches and raised $200,000 for cancer research.
Pace Athletic Director, Mark Brown, speaks on the hire, "I am so very happy we were able to entice Chad to return to the Pace Community. He was the primary recruiter of some of our most decorated football student-athletes, and I know he understands what it takes to win and be successful here... he [Walker] is a tremendous leader and I'm excited for what this will mean for not only the football program, but the entire community."
In Walker's most recent coaching position at Christ School in North Carolina, which was impacted by Hurricane Helene in Sept. 2024, Walker navigated through the aftermath and led the program to its third straight NCISAA Division I State Playoff Semi-Final appearance while competing against a national schedule. From 2021 to the present day, he developed and placed over 30 student-athletes at the collegiate level and flourished in strong relationships with the top-college coaches such as College Football Hall of Famers, Nick Saban and Mack Brown.
Walker is ready to take the reigns as the head coach on the sidelines of Northwell Stadium when he states, "We plan to hit the ground running and build a culture of student-athletes that have a sense of Pride, Purpose, Passion and Persistence in the classroom, on campus, in the community, and on the gridiron. We will guide them to achieve victory mentally, socially, emotionally, and physically on a daily basis as they grow to be the best versions of themselves."