Blog
Usually, sitting on the beach in Wrightsville, North Carolina during the July 4th weekend means one thing: relaxation. Surrounded by 20ish family members, the only thing I care about is laying on the beach, enjoying the water, and playing beach games with my younger cousins. While that summer vacation in 2021 didn’t differ much from that approach, there was one pivotal moment that has led to me co-founding a company going into my senior year of college. While enjoying the North Carolina sunset on the house balcony with my family members, my uncle began asking me questions about NIL, which at the time was just being implemented and was brand new. While on the trip, I tweeted a sponsored post for GoPuff, a delivery service that drops off groceries and other essential items. Making twenty dollars for the post, my uncle was intrigued that a walk-on athlete could have NIL deals and benefit off the new legislation. Little did he know, that was just one small opportunity I capitalized on, and, in reality, I had no real NIL deals lined up. Once I explained to him that this was a one-off deal that was available for all college athletes, and how walk-ons don’t get much representation in the NIL realm, he commented on how he thought walk-ons should get more NIL value as they are so much more than just football players, and that their character traits should make them extremely attractive to companies looking for partnerships. My father seconded that opinion, and mentioned how influential walk-ons could be if they could somehow unify and have their influence aggregated. From that idea, the rough creation of Walk-On U sprung up. For the next hour, myself and a group of my family members talked through how smart it would be for a company to represent walk-ons and how that could unify these hardworking student-athletes nationally. With assistance from my mother, we landed on the name Walk-On U, a catchy, short company name that got unanimous approval from both parents and kids alike inside the beach house. With just a few days left in my vacation, I spent the time pondering how I could make this a viable business entity and how it would operate. And man, was that difficult. Going into my sophomore year of college, I was ill-prepared and ill-equipped, and struggled with the creativity and persistence needed to start a company. After a mere few weeks, discouraged and not making any progress, I quit working on the project. So, just as quickly as it was created, it faltered, and Walk-On U was just a past thought for me throughout my sophomore year and the first semester of my Junior year. Enter Ford Buckner, a brilliant, hardworking classmate of mine who also has been my closest and best friend for the past seven years (we went to high school and attend college together). I mentioned my idea to Ford sometime last year, and how I thought it was a good idea but how I failed to give it any substance. He loved the idea and we talked about how it could become a prosperous business idea, but with school and athletics at Vanderbilt eating up my time, and with music consuming Ford’s time, the idea remained stagnant. In December of 2022, after this past football season ended, I walked away from the Vanderbilt football program. With three seasons under my belt, I was proud of what I put into the program and the success I had had on the field. I wanted to go study abroad and my application was accepted for me to study at Saint Louis University in Madrid, and, although it was difficult, that’s exactly what I did. I left football for good and now was focusing my efforts on school and business opportunities. Ford came to Madrid as well, and it has been here, all the way across the Atlantic, that we have revived Walk-On U. Without Ford, this collective would have never been founded, and I am proud and blessed to have him as the cofounder of Walk-On U. His ideas have transformed the basic idea I had for Walk-On U into something much more complex and sophisticated. He pushed me to work on it with him, and it was his hard work paired with mine that has made this company come into fruition. As I am writing this, Ford and myself are still pouring the foundation for Walk-On, and much needs to be done so that we can fully service walk-on athletes. Our vision needs to be proven first at Vanderbilt before we can even think about expanding, and we are working around the clock to make sure that plan happens. I can’t wait to see where this business takes Ford and I, and I am so excited to see what the upcoming 2023-2024 school year has in store for our young collective. While we are young and still figuring out how to run a business, we are passionate and driven, and are determined to make this work. Follow us on social media and check our website for updates on how Walk-On U is doing! — Jack Barton, Co-Founder As much as I'd like to take credit, Walk-On U was Jack's brainchild, through and through. He'd mentioned the idea to me a few times throughout college, an innovative idea capitalizing on the explosion of NIL activity in collegiate football, but with a twist. Sure, one could chase the lucrative contracts of NCAA's most recognized scholarship athletes. These deals naturally dominate the NIL marketplace. Now, to organize a collective composed of an entire team's walk-on unit struck me as strategic and innovative. Jack was onto something. Jack and Tommy Eckels, a walk-on LB in the '24 class, have been both my roommates and close friends throughout our years at Vanderbilt. I've witnessed first hand the extreme discipline, perseverance, and total effort applied to the program, often unrewarded. As Tommy often reminds me, "You couldn't handle the grind of an SEC schedule." Not that they complain. These players know the challenges of the sport...hard work is never exerted in pursuit of praise or recognition, it's about placing the goals of the program above your own, and sacrificing for your teammates. Still, the school's walk-ons play integral roles on the roster. Many players make a notable impact on special teams, others through the scout team unit, and some through play calling on gameday. In many ways, the walk-ons make up the heart and soul of an athletic program, bringing passion, humor, and energy to the locker room and the field. In rare cases, a walk-on will dominate the game and achieve success and stardom. Think J.J. Watt or Clay Matthews. So, while improbable that a singular walk-on football player attract the attention of a national brand, the question still remained: What about a walk-on collective? Beginning our spring semester abroad in Madrid, the idea had gone dormant. However, with a new setting and an abundance of free time, the conversation reemerged quickly. We had the idea, had the drive, and knew the players. Just like that, Walk-On U was born. The rationale is simple: Where one scholarship athlete with, say, 50k Instagram followers can generate substantial revenue through corporate partnerships, there exists an opportunity for 20+ walk-ons, having equal or greater aggregate following, to capitalize on the same deals. As the conversation progressed, however, we began to recognize many additional advantages to contracting with walk-ons. For starters, the group naturally exerts more personal influence than the individual, especially when it comes to in-person events and representation of company merchandise. Whereas scholarship players often stick to the confines of the football program, walk-ons are deeply enmeshed in the student-body through classes, student organizations, and social clubs. Furthermore, the sphere of social media influence, while small relative to a program's star players, is extremely targeted, often local and composed of individuals that have a personal connection to the players. These followers, unlike disconnected fans, are immensely more likely to respond to the player's endorsements and calls to action. The walk-on in many ways reflects the underdog story, a motif that resonates with any entrepreneur or business owner that fights to achieve success in the competitive marketplace. We are confident that businesses, donors, and charitable organizations will recognize the integrity of our athletes and embrace the mission of the collective. I'm immensely proud to represent our walk-ons, and I can't wait to watch Walk-On U flourish and expand! — Ford Buckner, Co-Founder
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When Vanderbilt quarterback Mike Wright threw what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown pass to Will Sheppard on Saturday at Kentucky, there was only one thing running through Jack Barton’s mind. “I just knew that the kickoff team had to go back out there, and if we wanted to win that game, we had to stop No. 2 (Kentucky kickoff returner Barion Brown),” Barton said about the final moments of Vandy’s first SEC victory in three years. “I think that return took nine seconds. They pretty much lost a whole offensive snap because of that. Then when our defense made the stop, the celebration was unparalleled.” Sheppard’s touchdown reception left 32 seconds on the clock at Kroger Field, plenty of time for a talented Wildcats offense to receive the ensuing kickoff and find its way into field position in hopes of sending the game to overtime. Vanderbilt’s strategy to kick the ball to Brown, and not out of bounds or possibly out of the end zone, paid off. Brown’s 20-yard return out to the 24-yard line did indeed erase nine seconds off the clock giving Kentucky only 23 ticks to work with. The Commodores’ defense took care of the rest. “Maybe one of the best wins of my career,” Vanderbilt associated head coach, special teams coordinator and tight end coach Justin Lustig said this week. “Bowl wins and championships at different levels, that one … I’m getting goosebumps right now just thinking about it.” That kickoff return wasn’t the only big play of the day for Lustig and the Commodores. Senior defensive lineman Nate Clifton also blocked a field goal in the second quarter, three points that turned out to be the difference in the final result. How Lustig, or “Stig” as he’s known around the McGugin Center, and his special teams units operate is representative of head coach Clark Lea and the Vanderbilt football program as a whole. A steady, methodical group which includes of a handful of walk-on student-athletes who go about their business every day pounding at a metaphorical rock yearning for that big breakthrough. A breakthrough like Saturday’s 24-21 win at Kentucky. “I’ve never met someone who just has the same methodical approach every single day. But within the mythology of just showing up and swinging away at the rock and being the guy who breaks the rock on the 101st swing like he always says, he makes it fun,” Barton said of playing for Lea. “He makes practice fun. He makes meetings fun. The coaches have all bought in to what he says so everyone is aligned in the dame direction so it makes playing for him she easy. “You have a leader who is the face of a program and he just exemplifies everything that you want to be when you’re older and he exemplifies everything that this team wants to be. I love playing for him, everyone in the locker room loves playing for him. He’s the best coach we could ask for and you could see tangible proof week-in and week-out that we’re getting better.” Barton and Lea had actually been on the same sideline long before their days in Nashville together, even if it may have been unbeknownst to each of them. As a junior in high school, Barton took an unofficial recruiting visit to Notre Dame in 2018. Barton watched as the Fighting Irish and their defensive coordinator Lea beat Florida State 42-13 in South Bend, Indiana. But that game was much too cold for Barton’s liking. So he set his sights on a warmer climate, like Nashville. A good friend in high school, Ford Buckner, who is a budding musician, was already considering Vanderbilt as well. So he and Barton decided to do what whatever necessary to become Commodores. From Dallas, Texas, Barton developed a relationship with former Vanderbilt assistant coach Marc Mattioli and eventually earned an opportunity to join the program as a preferred walk-on. “Coach (Lustig) came in and that’s really where I found my love for special teams. He and coach Jeff (LePak) are the best coaches I’ve ever been around, especially when it comes to special teams,” Barton said. “They make it fun. They make us have pride in what we do. Every day when we have meetings it’s just as serious as the defensive meetings. “Being a special teams player means the world to me because I know that’s my dedicated role to this team. I try to go out every week and meet extra with coach so I can perform my best. All the walk-ons, all the guys that play special teams, would say the same thing. It’s the greatest opportunity we have and we go out everyday to try to build on our last performances and just keep on getting better like the offensive and defensive guys.” Along with Barton, there are [other walk-ons] like Tommy Eckels , Charlie Dallape (a childhood friend of Vandy running back Ray Davis ), Cooper Lutz , and Nicholas Rinaldi , among others, who have been key contributors on special teams. It’s a group that doesn’t get much recognition outside of the locker room, yet can’t be ignored in the wider scheme of what Lea and his staff are building. And who else but to laud the efforts of those walk-ons than Lea, a former walk-on himself. “Because of my own personal experience, to me, what you get in return from investing in a program like this will pay dividends over your lifetime,” Lea said Thursday. “They get rewarded for their involvement here, too, not just though the relationships and the playing, but also through the values that you build. “I think if I’m looking to start a business someday I’m looking for guys that were walk-ons at a high level in football. They’re going to be tough, they’re going to show up, they’re going to be resilient, they know how to be selfless. Those are the qualities you look for.” Lustig and Lea both credited the Vanderbilt Athletics administration for assisting with broadening the walk-on pool. General manager Barton Simmons , too, has been tasked with unearthing potential student-athletes that not only handle the rigors of Vanderbilt academics but also the demands of competing inside the Southeastern Conference. Student-athletes like Eckels are a good example, a junior who thought he would have a career as a collegiate lacrosse player growing up until he put on a football helmet as a sophomore in high school. Eckels, from Kansas City, Missouri, was well aware of Vanderbilt football considering his father David Eckels was listed as a 6-foot-1, 195-pound defensive end on the 1998 Vandy roster. Tommy Eckels has played in all 10 games this season for the Commodores and has recorded at least one tackle in six of those 10. “My role right now is I play on punt, punt return, kickoff and kickoff return. It’s something I take a lot of pride in,” Eckels said. “I know coach ‘Stig’ talks about it all the time, but special teams plays, they really have a big impact on the outcome of the game. Not many fans actually pay attention to it. Not many people know just how important those plays are so I take a great deal of pride knowing I can really impact the outcome of a game through special teams.” Lustig, a former defensive back at Bucknell, was named Coach of the Year after leading Division II Edinboro to a 9-2 record in 2016. He then spent four seasons as the special teams coordinator at Syracuse before Lea made him one of the program’s first assistant coach hires in 2021. Lustig’s top unit this season has been his kickoff return defense which has allowed just 19.38 yards per return and ranks 62nd nationally. Vandy also hasn’t allowed a blocked field goal or blocked punt. Saturday’s win at Kentucky was just as gratifying for Lustig as it was for Commodores like Barton, Eckels and others who have been through more losses than they care to discuss, but who also keep returning to the practice fields behind the McGugin Center to chip away at the boulder standing between them and championships. “Nothing beats the boys in the locker room and being able to play football every day,” Barton said. “With the coaching staff change (in 2020) it could have been hard, but with coach Lea and the staff coming in, it was pretty seamless. “The passion has always been there and it’s been great to have a coach who believes in all his players, and then recognizes when a guy can contribute, there’s a role on special teams. It’s just about grinding every day and then the coaches put us in successful positions.” — Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com. Follow him @MrChadBishop .
