Martinsburg football coach is a real loser
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
By CHUCK MCGILL - Charleston Daily Mail

MARTINSBURG -- As one of the most successful high school football coaches in West Virginia, Dave Walker isn't accustomed to losing.

The Martinsburg head coach has guided his team to the AAA state championship game this Saturday at noon against Parkersburg at Wheeling Island Stadium, the fourth time in six seasons he has done so.

His first state title is within reach, but even the most-coveted hardware could pale in comparison to his personal victory this off-season, which ironically required Walker, for once, to lose.

Walker, 41, was facing mounting health problems, many of which he attributed to his weight. A former offensive tackle at Glenville State, he only added bulk to his already massive frame since his playing days.

He wouldn't disclose his peak weight, only to say it was "well over 300 pounds."

A man driven by his desire to coach young student-athletes about discipline and maintaining a healthly lifestyle finally came to understand he was doing too much preaching and not enough practicing.

"I really let myself go," Walker said. "I couldn't sleep and I wasn't breathing at night.

"It was affecting my health and I have two young kids."

In January, Walker started to lose weight. He cut out carbs and started lifting weights again. He ran on the treadmill and played as much basketball as possible.

It didn't take long for him to become unrecognizable to coaching colleagues from around the state.

By June, he had dropped 90 pounds, a remarkable 15 pounds per month. Now, looking more svelte than stout, he is once again coaching with the vigor and vivacity of his younger years.

"I have a lot of energy and I feel a lot better," he said. "It sounds like a lot (of weight), but the hard part is getting started. Keeping it off has been the task."

Walker said that during the season, he has put a few of the pounds back on.

He doubles as an assistant principal at Martinsburg, and a rigorous and stressful schedule full of late nights and later meals makes weight management an even greater challenge.

"It will be easier when the season is over with," he said.Win or lose, Saturday will culminate one of Walker's finest and most enjoyable coaching stints of his career.

"This has been one of my best years coaching," Walker said. "It's just a real team. They have a great attitude, and it's a pleasure to have them around and coach them."

Martinsburg (12-1) fell in the AAA playoff finals in 2001, 2003 and 2004. In those years, the Bulldogs were loaded with talent, including Kennedy Award winners Brandon Barrett and Nate Sowers.

"This is a year that we don't have that one kid," Walker said, although running back Josh Twyman is regarded as a top candidate for this year's Kennedy Award. "We are not a one-man show."

Capturing the school's first-ever championship in football, however, will take more than a good game from Twyman, as unbeaten Parkersburg (13-0) has yet to receive a legitimate test en route to its fifth state title game since 1997.

Martinsburg has matched Parkersburg's dominance in the playoffs, outscoring the opposition 102-9.

"We aren't preparing any differently," Walker said. "They've mauled over people. No one has been able to stop them, but our confidence level is up.

"I just told (the players) to be relaxed and enjoy it and just treat it like any other game."