Head Coach

Chad Walker begins a new era for Pace Football as he returns to the program as the Head Coach ahead of the 2025 season. Walker was hired in January 2025 and brings forth vast experiences in recruiting, fundraising, pursuing academic excellence and more.

Walker was part of the Setters' coaching staff as an Offensive Coordinator and Quarterback Coach during the 2014-2016 seasons. Throughout that time, he put together an offensive crew that recorded the most points in a game since 2005 in the 2014 season while recruiting some of the most well-known names in Pace football history like Jalen Bien-Aime, Jah'Sheem Martin, and Prince Unaegbu. Not only did he bring in on-field success, but he also put together academic success by assisting in the increase of the overall team grade point average (GPA) from 2.4 in 2014 to 3.08 by 2016.  

Upon leaving Pace in 2016, Walker made his way down to the sunshine state of Florida where he continued to expand his resume in terms of recruiting and fundraising and was even named Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) 2A District Coach of the Year; this being one of the many awards he received. As the Director of Operations at an Elite Performance Center in Tampa, the Compound powered by Yo Murphy Performance, Walker oversaw recruitment, evaluation, and training alongside major NFL names of Randy Moss, Yo Murphy, Warren Sapp, and more. Additionally, he recruited future NFL stars Darius Leonard (2018 Defensive ROY,) 1st Round Draft Pick Tytus Howard, and All-Pro Selection Jessie Bates. 

At the Lauren's First and Goal Foundation, Walker assisted in managing logistics for the country's largest one-day non-profit high school football camp while raising over $2 million for Pediatric Brain Tumor Research and Cancer Services. After the COVID-19 Public Health crisis, Walker continued to make his mark in the fundraising realm when he helped organize and secure speakers for the LFG Virtual Coaches Clinic (2021-24) with 175+ college and NFL coaches and raised $200,000 for cancer research.  

In his most recent coaching position at Christ School in North Carolina, which was impacted by Hurricane Helene in Sept. 2024, Walker navigated through the aftermath and led the program to its third straight NCISAA Division I State Playoff Semi-Final appearance while competing against a national schedule. From 2021 to the present day, he developed and placed over 30 student-athletes at the collegiate level and flourished in strong relationships with the top-college coaches such as College Football Hall of Famers, Nick Saban and Mack Brown.