Drake Names Matt Walker Head Coach After 2025 D-III Championship

Drake University announced on Feb. 22, 2026 that Matt Walker will be the Bulldogs’ next head football coach, a jump from 15 seasons at the University of Wisconsin‑River Falls where Walker capped his tenure by leading the Falcons to the 2025 NCAA Division III national championship and a program‑record 14 wins. The hire moves Walker from Division III into Division I FCS competition in the Pioneer Football League, a non‑scholarship conference.

Drake athletic director Brian Hardin welcomed Walker and his family, saying, "We are thrilled to welcome Matt Walker and his family to Drake and Des Moines. Matt inherited a program routinely at the bottom of its conference and turned it into one of the best programs in the country. His identification and development of young men will serve him well at Drake and I look forward to the heights he will guide our team." Walker succeeds Joe Woodley, who resigned after leading Drake to the Pioneer Football League championship in his only season and has accepted a position at Rutgers.

Walker’s resume at UW‑River Falls is heavy on offensive production and rapid program turnaround. Since 2021 Walker’s Falcons went 44‑13, and over the last five seasons his teams averaged 42.4 points per game while leading the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in total offense and scoring offense each season in that span. The Falcons finished in the top four nationally in Division III total offense three times since 2021 and won back‑to‑back Isthmus Bowl titles during that period. For 2025 Walker received D3football.com Coach of the Year honors and WIAC Coach of the Year recognition for a second time.

Biographical details underline Walker’s long coaching arc and multi‑sport background. Born June 15, 1977, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Walker was a starting quarterback and pitcher at DePauw University from 1997‑1999, holds a BA from DePauw and an MA from Indiana State, and served as DePauw assistant coach (2000‑2005), DePauw head coach (2006‑2008), and Butler tight ends coach (2010) before taking the UW‑River Falls head job in 2011. Career totals listed in institutional records show a football head‑coach mark of 89‑88, a DePauw baseball record of 253‑166, bowl record 2‑0 and NCAA Division III playoff record 5‑0; his Drake record begins at 0‑0.

UW‑River Falls athletic director Crystal Lanning reflected on Walker’s impact, saying, "Over the past 15 years, he worked tirelessly to improve all areas of the program including the team culture, academic performance, and on-field competitiveness. He created a culture of pride and excellence within the team, and reengaged generations of Falcon alumni. I truly wish Coach Walker and his family all the best as he pursues a new professional opportunity. He will be greatly missed by the UWRF and River Falls community." Walker has said defensive coordinator Jake Wissing will take over as head coach of the Falcons, and reports indicate offensive coordinator Joe Matheson is expected to join Walker on his staff at Drake; UW‑River Falls has not released a formal timeline for a coaching search.

The move carries strategic implications for Drake and the Pioneer League. Walker arrives with an offense that averaged 42.4 points per game over five seasons and a recent national profile, positioning the Bulldogs to compete with PFL peers such as St. Thomas (Minn.), Valparaiso, Butler and Dayton in a non‑scholarship landscape where scheme and player development are central. A few verification items remain public: institutional records differ on the last UW‑River Falls WIAC title year (1985 versus 1998 in available accounts) and the exact makeup of Walker’s coaching staff at Drake (official hires for Matheson and others are pending). The immediate next steps are formal staff announcements from Drake, an official appointment or search plan from UW‑River Falls for its next head coach, and Walker’s first recruiting cycle in the Pioneer League.