Untitled - University of Arizona Athletics

Ryan Walters, Secondary Coach
Year in Coaching: Second
Year at Arizona: Second
Walters moved to a full-time assistant
coaching the secondary in February 2011 after
serving a year as the defensive graduate
assistant on the Wildcat staff.
He joined the Arizona staff in August 2010
following a noted playing career at the University
of Colorado.
His showed in spring ball this year that
he’s ready for the rigors of coaching at the BCS
level.
Walters, 25, was a 33-game starter in four
seasons in Boulder, all under secondary coach
Greg Brown, who Walters succeeds at Arizona after the latter returned
to the staff at CU earlier this year. Stoops appointed veteran University
of Texas secondary coach Duane Akina in January, but he opted to
return to a position with the Longhorns.
The UA assignment is his first full-time coaching position and
he becomes the youngest current football assistant coach in the Pac-
12 Conference.
Walters earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors from the
Associated Press and first-team All-Colorado honors from the state's
National Football Foundation chapter his senior year. A team captain
for the Buffaloes in 2008, Walters also was picked by his teammates
as the club's most valuable player, to highlight a number of citations.
The CU coaching staff gave him the Hang Tough Award for
overcoming adversity, he was an inaugural Gold Group Commitment
Award member, plus was feted by fans as winner of the Buffalo Heart
Award.
He had 87 tackles, two sacks, seven pass deflections, three
fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and two interceptions his senior
year. His 20 career passes defended rate No. 15 in Colorado history
and his 223 career tackles were No. 45.
Walters played in 46 games for Colorado despite a litany of
shoulder, knee and hand injuries, and illness that kept him out of a
couple of spring practices.
A native of Los Angeles, Walters was a heralded player at
Grandview High School in Aurora, Colo., as a three-year starting
quarterback. His father, Marc, played quarterback for Colorado from
1986-89.
Walters earned his degree in history from CU in December
2008, with a minor in atmospheric science.
Walters' Coaching History
2010 Defensive G.A. Arizona
2011 Secondary coach Arizona
Walters in the Postseason
2005 Champs Sports Bowl, Colorado player
2007 Independence Bowl, Colorado player
2010 Valero Alamo Bowl, Arizona graduate assistant
The Walters File
Date of Birth: Jan. 21, 1986, Los Angeles
High School: Grandview High School, Aurora, Colo.
College: Colorado, 2008
Recruits: Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Colorado
Family: Wife, Tara
2011 Arizona Football
15 - arizonawildcats.com
Erick Harper, Associate AD/Football Ops
Year in College Athletics: 26th
Year at Arizona: Eighth
Erick Harper, 43, handles primary
administrative functions for Arizona's football program
and has been one of Mike Stoops' key aides
throughout the coach's tenure in Tucson.
He enters his eighth year on the staff after
joining the operational efforts in its early stages in
December 2003. He is an associate athletics director
for football operations, overseeing the daily
administrative functions and planning for the Wildcat
football program as well as supporting details for
recruiting. He serves on AD Greg Byrne's senior staff
advisory committee.
He also handles all team travel in the regular
season and post season. He is an important liaison between the athletics
compliance director and the football staff.
For the past seven years he has been the remote host for the Assistant
Football Coaches radio show, and worked on the basketball assistant coaches
show in 2007 on UA's partner KCUB-1290 AM.
Harper is a former collegiate player and brings that insight to his
operational decisions.
Harper developed his leadership skills while serving as an athletic
administrator at Kansas State for 10 years. He graduated from Kansas State in
1992 and served an internship in the athletic marketing and development office
at Kansas State from November 1990 to June 1992. His first seven years at
Kansas State coincided with Stoops’ tenure there as defensive ends coach and
co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.
He spent 14 years overall at Kansas State, where he served the athletics
department in several capacities, including assistant director of marketing and
promotions, assistant director of marketing and development, director of
advertising sales, and compliance auditor. Harper was involved in marketing,
development, promotions and advertising sales from November 1990 to February
1996.
In 1996, he was promoted to compliance auditor as an assistant athletics
director. He developed the educational programs designed to keep coaches,
student-athletes and staff aware of institutional, Big 12 and NCAA by-laws
governing intercollegiate athletics.
Harper was a football team captain at KSU to cap a four-year career as a
defensive back from 1986-89. He earned All-Big-8 Freshman honors, was an allleague
honorable mention selection each year, earned UPI All-Big 8 honorable
mention once and was an honorable mention All-America pick by Football News.
He was a two-time Academic All-Big 8 honoree. Harper finished his career
ranked No. 15 on the Wildcats’ all-time tackles list with 245, was No. 2 with eight
fumble recoveries and No. 9 with 137 yards on interception returns. Among six
career picks, he returned two for scores against Kansas, still the second-most in
KSU history.
Harper in the Bowls
2010 Alamo Bowl Arizona administrator
2009 Holiday Bowl Arizona administrator
2008 Las Vegas Bowl Arizona administrator
The Harper File
Birth date: February 17, 1968
High School:
Denison, Texas, High School
College Degree: Kansas State University, 1992
Playing Experience: Four-year Letterman, safety 1986-89
Accolades:
All Big-8 Freshman Team, 245 Career Tackles,
Team captain & player representative ’89,
Two-time Academic All-Conference,
Football News HM All-America,
UPI All-Big Eight ’89 honorable mention
David Emerick, Assistant Operations Director
Year in Football: 13th
Year at Arizona: Second
David spearheads Arizona’s recruiting efforts as
assistant director of operations and director of on-campus
recruiting. He joined the UA football staff in February 2010
after six years working with the Texas Tech Red Raider
staff. In his last two years in Lubbock he was Chief of
Staff and an Assistant Athletics Director.
At Tech he served as unit coordinator during his
first season and Director of Player Personnel his next
three seasons, before assuming the chief of staff position.
He oversaw the entire recruiting process for the football
program and assisted in the organization and execution of
football camps.
Additionally, Emerick served as the liaison between the football program
and the Texas Tech overall department, specifically in academics, compliance,
media relations and marketing areas.
Emerick, a 2002 political science graduate of the University of Kentucky,
was a college scouting intern with the Houston Texans during the franchise’s first
season in 2002. Prior to his stint with the Texans, he was the recruiting and