Florida is favorite for this Norland tackle, but the blue-chip OL won’t rule out Miami

There’s one common misconception, Issiah Walker Jr. said, about Walker declaring the Florida Gators the leader in his recruitment last month. It had nothing to do with Florida’s win against the Miami Hurricanes in August.

Walker, the top-ranked offensive lineman in Miami-Dade County for the Class of 2020, made the trip to Orlando last month to watch the Hurricanes play the Gators at Camping World Stadium and said soon after Florida’s win he had the Gators as a slight leader in an intense in-state recruiting battle.

The decision wasn’t made in Central Florida, though. Walker knew before the game even kicked off he was leaning toward the Gators.

“It was just a little earlier, before I came to the game,” Walker said Tuesday after the Vikings practiced in Miami Gardens. “People thought it was, OK after that. It wasn’t that. It was just before the game — way before the game. I just came out. I didn’t really say nothing to nobody about it.”

He said he isn’t concerned about the way the Hurricanes have performed so far, either.

The No. 156 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2020, Walker grew up a Miami fan and was a somewhat frequent visitor in Coral Gables throughout the summer. He consistently speaks highly of his relationship with offensive line coach Butch Barry and said communication hasn’t dropped of at all, even after he named No. 9 Florida the front-runner in his recruitment.

“I would say Florida’s my leader, but when I talk to coaches I don’t really say, ‘OK, stop talking to me.’ I don’t do none of that,” Walker said. “I still talk to coaches every day because I’m still looking at them at the same time.”

On Sept. 12, Barry made the trek to Homestead to watch Miami Norland play South Dade at Harris Field. Walker still hears Barry’s voice in his ear every day thanks to some of the 1-on-1 attention he got from the position coach when he attended a camp inside the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility in June.

His day was spent focusing on his pass sets. The assistant coach drilled it with Walker time after time, and Walker felt like he had learned something new, even if he hadn’t perfected it.

“I kind of needed help with it. At first he was showing me, but I really couldn’t get it down. We did it like 10 times, I remember,” Walker said. “At first I didn’t know how to do it, but as time went on I tried it every day. It got better.”

On the practice field Tuesday at Norland, Walker was focusing on something else Barry taught him. He spent the early part of the season focusing on those pass sets, so now he’s focused on hand placement in the running game, working on knocking defenders’ hands down.

He spent the summer absorbing information from Barry, Gators offensive line coach John Hevesy and Florida State Seminoles offensive line coach Randy Clements, and now he tries to use all of it on the field. The biggest difference in Walker’s recruitment, the lineman said, is his comfort with the Gators’ coaching staff.

“I would say the coaches,” Walker said when asked why Florida leads. “They have a very good school, coaching staff. Florida is leading a little, but at the same time Miami does have a good coaching staff, too, so I’m still looking at them. I think people say, ‘OK, you’re not going to Miami no more,’ and it’s not that. I’m still looking at Miami very heavily.”

The Hurricanes’ recruiting tactics haven’t changed despite a shaky start to the season, Walker said. Barry still reaches out pretty much every day to talk to him, and most of the conversations don’t actually have much to do with football. A popular topic of conversation is whatever Walker has eaten recently.

“They all know I love to eat, so they say, How well did you eat?” Walker said. “How are practices? Just like regular stuff like that. How’s your parents doing?”

Walker understands what a priority he is for all three Power 5 Conference schools in the state. Both Florida and Miami have pitched him on the potential for immediate playing time, and Walker likes to see the Hurricanes starting two freshmen, even if they have had their ups and downs.

He also understands how badly the fan bases want him. When Walker parked outside Camping World last month, he had to trek through a Miami tailgating section to get inside the stadium. He’s a recognizable prospect with his 6-foot-4, 309-pound frame topped with his signature flattop and he heard a cry from the crowd of Hurricanes fans.

“They were like, ‘Issiah!’ I looked back. They knew who I was. ‘Issiah, you need to come!’” Walker said. “I took a picture with a Miami fan, too. ... It was cool.”

He returned home impressed with the Gators, but impressed with the Hurricanes, too.

“Everybody’s not perfect. You win, you lose some,” said Walker, who has not yet set a commitment date. “That Miami-versus-Florida game — that was a very good game. Both sides of the ball did good — Miami and Florida — so people say, OK, Miami did nothing. No. They did good to me. Both them teams did good to me. Tackles did good to me. You win some you lose some.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 1:23 PM.