MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When the 2023 high school football season begins in August, one of the state’s most successful head coaches will be back in a familiar spot. Dave Walker will survey the sidelines at the stadium that now bears his name at Martinsburg High School.
The eight-time state champion coach was officially approved by the Berkeley County Board of Education on Monday to return as the leader of the Bulldogs. Walker spent the past three seasons as the head coach at Concord University.
“Myself and my support system, we just wanted to go home. I missed my family, my friends, my people up there. And at my age, or at any age, I figured out recently that life is just too short to not be happy,” Walker said on Tuesday’s edition of the MetroNews Citynet Statewide Sportsline.
“I felt like I made a real difference at Martinsburg. I don’t know that I made a real difference [at Concord]. One of the big things is relationships that you have with your players. At the college level, a kid comes in my office, normally he wants more scholarship money, he wants something or needs something. In high school, you have a kid come in and they are going to talk to you about family issues or things you can help them with to try to get them through something difficult.”
Walker led Concord to a 9-2 record in 2022, narrowly missing out on a Mountain East Conference championship and an NCAA playoff spot.
“I think I am a lot better coach and a lot better person going through some life experience. I think I am better equipped to help young people that want to make that journey or make that leap to the next level. Just being around the game full-time, I have learned a lot.”
Former head coach Britt Sherman will remain on staff with the Bulldogs in a similar role that he held prior to Walker’s departure in 2019. Sherman posted a 28-5 record in three seasons, winning the state title in 2021.
“Britt did an amazing job and he is going to stay on and be the [offensive coordinator]. I’ve got a few wrinkles and some things that we can add that I have picked up in the last few years. But there won’t be a lot of change with the X’s and O’s. If it isn’t broke, you don’t try to fix it. I think it is just a matter of going in and managing people and motivating and working and doing things like we did.
“You are not going to outwork [Sherman]. He is such a hard-worker. Britt is family. I’ve known him since he was five years old. He was my water boy and played for me and coached with me. We have a really good working relationship. There are no egos. Nobody cares about titles or labels. We just want the kids to be successful.
“I had a joke that we are just trying to get the band back together. That’s kind of what we are doing. Except we are not The Beatles.”
The Bulldogs are coming off a 10-3 season and they advanced to the Class AAA semifinals. Several top contributors return for MHS this fall.
“They’ve got a really good group coming back with seven or eight guys on both sides of the ball and there is a nucleus for a great team.”