think they wanted change, and I was just the formality of getting an interview” said Walker.

a coach. “Broadly speaking, it’s an asset to have been at a school for a long time. Now, if you’ve been there for a long time, and the culture needs a dramatic change, maybe it wouldn’t be.”

Promoting a head coach from within is a rare case, actually. Oftentimes, when an institution feels a coaching change is necessary, they feel an entire culture change is also warranted, meaning bringing in an entirely new regime; which Walker herself acknowledged.

That choice can come with heavy scrutiny if that institution’s support base has their heart set on another candidate, which it appears FAU’s support base had theirs set on Walker.

In 2020, Utah State University found themselves in a similar situation when searching for a head football coach. When the Aggies hired current head coach, Arkansas-native Blake Anderson, they broke a long-standing tradition of hiring only Mormon head coaches. In-doing-so, they also passed over Frank Maile, the Mormon, Utah-native who served as interim head coach and was seen as the house-favorite to take over.

As expected, Utah State’s decision to hire Anderson was met with fierce opposition from their fan base; Even players, a majority of whom boycotted their regular season finale on the grounds of concern about “religious discrimination during the search for a new football coach.”

However, Anderson’s firstseason was a consensus success as he led the Aggies to a record of 11-3. In addition, a September 2022 report by KSL, a little more than a year removed from the controversy surrounding his arrival, described him as “a man who is adored by his players.”

In similar fashion to Anderson, Clark boasted an impressive resume before FAU hired her.

In four seasons as an assistant at Ohio State, Clark helped coach the Buckeyes to the Regional

Round of the NCAA Tournament twice. She spent much of her time there primarily responsible for offense, which ranked fourth in the Big Ten in batting average in 2022.

However, Walker’s own resume that featured eight conference championships over 21 years as an assistant—and her performance as an interim—left many wondering if a top-to-bottom culture change was necessary.

“Generally, if an interim comes in and is successful, they have a leg up,” said Brown. “Even if they’re not successful on the field, but they’re doing a lot to overcome or repair a challenging off-the-field situation; they often have a leg up.”

A spokesperson for the FAU Athletics Department declined comment for this story, citing a policy against discussing personnel matters.

After the university made Clark’s hiring official, that left Walker’s future with the program in the hands of the new regime, who chose not to retain her.

Even with her ouster at FAU, multiple programs offered to bring Walker aboard, one of which she said would’ve kept her in Florida. Though she turned all of those down, Walker hasn’t ruled out the possibility of returning to coaching in the future.

“The past year has just been hard, and I think I needed a break,” Walker said.

Not wanting to leave the school she’s called home for more than 20 years, Walker assumed her current position as assistant director of student affairs. However, her love for the sport wouldn’t allow her to completely step away from the game, and has since been coaching youth softball to stay involved.

When asked what she misses most about her time coaching at FAU, without hesitation, Walker snapped back, “the girls.”