Like the rest of his former teammates at Liberty County High, Georgia defensive end Tramel Walthour was devastated when he received the news that his former head coach, Kirk Warner, had passed away last June.
Warner, a former standout at tight end for the Bulldogs who lettered four years with Georgia (1986-89), died from a rare form of cancer called angiosarcoma.
Along with former teammate Richard LeCounte, Walthour leaned on Warner a lot during their early development as football players. It wasn’t just about what to do on the field. Other key lessons dealt with the hard work one must put in if one's goal is to become a success in life.
“He had a huge influence on all the players there that I played with,” Walthour said. “He came in every day and told us to work hard for what we wanted, but that nothing was going to be given. He always preached that to us, and just kept explaining how the details that went with that hard work would pay off in the end.”
Now a key figure on Georgia’s defensive line, the perseverance and patience shown by Walthour no doubt would make his former coach proud.
Although Bulldog coaches had high hopes for Walthour when he signed, talented players ahead of him such as first-round pick Travon Walker necessitated he wait his turn before finally receiving the opportunity he wanted.
Heading into Saturday’s game at Kentucky (3:30 p.m., CBS), Walker has started eight straight games at defensive end for the Bulldogs. He has proven a steady performer with 13 tackles on the season.
“It's awesome. The consummate team player that has played his role and is playing his role now,” Smart said. “He still doesn't play a ton of snaps, but he makes the most of the snaps he takes. He has tremendous toughness, and he has tremendous buy-in to how we do things."
Walthour’s buy-in has never been in question. After all, Georgia was always the school he wanted to attend.
“It was a dream school of mine. Richard (LeCounte) played high school ball with me, and I saw him come here and just ball out as a freshman and during his sophomore year,” he said. “I just always wanted to come to Georgia, so once I got the offer, it wasn’t a question of where.”
Smart said Bulldog coaches first became aware of Walthour while they were scouting LeCounte.
“I thought he was a very good athlete from down there,” Smart said. “We had seen him when we recruited Richard. He needed some development. Needed to go play some to be able to come in here and help us. He was willing to do that. And he got, came in more ready to play than just a kid from high school after being there. He's done a good job since being here.”
There’s no doubt it has been rewarding.
Although the journey has been long, Walthour said it’s been worthwhile. Every opportunity he receives to step on the field, he does so knowing he’s giving the Bulldogs the best version of himself that he can.
“It just comes with the development process. You pick up as much as you can from the older guys, just picking up different looks, different keys and traits that they have and try to implement it into your game,” Walthour said. “I’ve just tried to gain as much knowledge about the game and the defense as I can. It helped me a lot.”
He knows Warner is proud.
“It hit me hard. It was really unexpected,” Walthour said. “We knew he was ill, but didn’t know to what extreme it was, and when it hit, it really hit a certain way. We’ve just got to keep going for him.”
