Dallas Walker has found his balance.

The Western Kentucky redshirt junior defensive lineman is thriving with a double life – the one in public as a standout member of the Hilltoppers’ defensive front. And then the other, private time at home as a dad to his 3-year-old son, Demani.

It’s a formidable workload with heavy responsibilities, but the Nashville native continues bear the weight.

It seems a lifetime ago that Walker was a highly recruited four-star prospect out of Smyrna High School who signed with SEC power Texas A&M, seeing playing time in the 2020 “COVID” year and again in 2021 with the Aggies.

Walker changed his course when his son was born, opting to leave College Station, Texas, and return home to support his family.

“I actually ended up having a son, to kind of be more hands-on and be there for my family – because you know, obviously football takes a lot of time away from anything else you try to do,” Walker said. “So to be closer to my family and be more hands-on with my son at an early age, I took some time off and left A&M.

“Honestly, I thought football was over for me. So I was trying to figure out what to do on the next step in life, so I was working as a security guard at Nissan. I got pretty out of shape, and then I ended up calling somebody from compliance at Texas A&M and just asking them about if I could hit the portal or if I’d be eligible, or if there was any chance of me getting back into it. They said yes, so I ended up getting in the portal December 2022 and by January 2023 I was up here at WKU.”

Walker said when he stepped on a scale the day before he entered the transfer portal after a year away from football, he weighed 375 pounds. By the time he made his first visit to WKU, he was down to 350 – then 340 when he arrived on campus to join the program in January 2023.

“I feel like the coaches really respected the fact that I did take that year off for my family and that I went and worked a whole year for my family,” Walker said. “So they liked that aspect, character-wise. And then really it was just trying to prove to them that I was serious about getting back on the field and coming here and being able to make an impact. I feel like they could just tell that I was serious about coming here and they could tell that what I was saying was real and was coming from a real place.”

Walker kept getting into shape heading into 2023 and contributed as a reserve defensive lineman with nine tackles in nine games.

Now listed at 6-foot-4, 318 pounds, Walker has stepped into a crucial role as a leader for WKU’s defense this season.

“Consistently, Dallas is one of our top guys in production week in and week out,” WKU defensive coordinator Tyson Summers said. “I really feel like our D-line and the strength that they bring to us from a depth perspective and what we ask those guys to do has been unbelievable all year. I’m very, very proud of them.

“I can’t say enough of how proud I am of him as a person and what he’s been able to overcome, and obviously being in the situation he is in being as productive a player as we could ever ask for.”

This season, Walker has totaled 27 tackles, including four tackles for loss, a forced fumble and an interception.

That first career pick came just last week in the Tops’ 41-28 road win against New Mexico State, when Walker’s first-quarter interception set up the Tops’ second touchdown within a two-minute span.

That play was vintage Walker, according to Summers.

“The interception is the best,” Summers said. “When you watch Dallas, I don’t know exactly what his weight is at this point, but he plays and practices probably harder than any person that I’ve ever seen at that size. And every day at practice we’re talking about D-linemen trying to get their hands up and batting balls and things like that. Kind of our term is run out of the stack, where they’ve got to go chase the ball being thrown down the field. He does it every day – every play, he goes as hard as he can.

“So he runs out the first play of the game and runs out of the stack like he’s done 900 times in practice and the ball gets tipped right to him. So you’ve got a 300-plus pounder now that’s got an interception because he gives great effort and the ball finds him.”

Walker, described by Summers as “one of the funniest players” on the roster, said he is just trying to do his part to help his team succeed. The Hilltoppers are back home at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Saturday to face Conference USA rival Louisiana Tech in an 11 a.m. homecoming matchup.

WKU (7-2 overall, 5-0 CUSA) shares a tie for first place in the conference standings with three more games to go. Walker is a big reason why.

“We’ve been playing together well as a team,” Walker said. “We always make a couple mistakes here and there, but we’ve really been trying to focus on the details week in and week out and just trying to approach every day with the same mentality that we’re gonna get better. The way that we’re connecting as brothers and teammates is really enjoyable. We’ve just been jelling well together.”

For Walker, doing his job and doing it well is his aim on the football field. But when he leaves the stadium, Walker’s focus completely shifts to his home life. Recently, that meant shopping for 3-year-old Demani’s school clothes and supplies.

“It’s been great since he moved down here,” Walker said. “My son moved down here and my girl moved down here, so it’s been great. I just try to focus on one thing at a time. I try to keep work and home separate, so when I go home, I try to be at home with my family. And then when I come to work, I try to make sure it’s all about work.”