Jan. 20—Walker did not have to look far to find its new football coach, promoting T.J. Anderson to lead the Wolverines' program.

Anderson has been at Walker for two years as associate head coach and offensive coordinator.

"I'm most excited to build a perennial-winning program and to put my own stamp on Walker football," Anderson said in a release. "I want to build a program on trust, accountability and commitment, but most importantly, I want our team to serve the people at Walker and the broader Marietta community."

Anderson has experience at all levels of football.

A graduate of South Gwinnett High School, he was a running back at Georgia Southern and was part of the Eagles' 2000 national championship in what was then NCAA's Division I-AA. He also won three Southern Conference championships playing for coaches Paul Johnson and Mike Sewak.

Anderson, who also played in the Arena Football League for two years, has experience in high school as an assistant coach at Westminster, Mountain View and Etowah. He also returned to Georgia Southern in 2018 to served as the director of high school relations under then-coach Chad Lunsford.

"I am thrilled to have coach Anderson leading this program through the next chapter in Walker's history," Walker head of school Carl Carlson said in the release. "There was a lot of interest in this position, and coach Anderson rose to the top of our list because of his football experience at all levels, passion for Walker football and his plan for building a strong program."

Anderson succeeds interim coach Tom Evangelista and becomes the fifth head coach since the beginning of the 2020 season. During that time, Walker has gone 3-25.

This past season, the Wolverines went 1-7 on a non-region schedule as they tried to rebuild the number of players committed to the football program. They will have one more season as a non-region program before they are eligible to return to region play with rivals North Cobb Christian and Mount Paran Christian in Region 6AA.

Walker has not had a winning season since 2012, and its last playoff appearance came in 2017.

"Coach Anderson's knowledge of the game, experience in building football programs and vision for the Wolverine football program made him a standout candidate," Walker athletic director Salina Crayton said in the release. "He is committed to our players, school community and will serve our football program well."

Of six Cobb County football coaching positions that opened this offseason, Walker is the first one filled. Also looking for new coaches are Allatoona, Campbell, McEachern, Pope and Whitefield Academy.