Cam Walker approaches 1-year as Utah State Vice President and Director of Athletics

Utah State University Athletics has had three different directors in the last four years, from John Hartwell to Diana Sabau and now current Vice President and Director of Athletics Cameron Walker. The past year has been one of significant transformations for USU athletics, primarily overseen by Walker, who is approaching one year in the role.  

Walker was formally announced as Sabau’s replacement by the university on Sept. 21, 2025, before officially settling into the position in early October.  

Walker, a Rexburg, Idaho native, came to Logan after previous stops at Utah Valley University, the University of Central Florida and, most recently, the University of Tennessee.  

Walker’s first year was full of ambition and change, starting just a couple of months after his arrival.  

Utah State interim athletic director Sandy Barbour shakes hands and presents a signed soccer ball to recently named vice president and director of athletics Cameron Walker during halftime of the USU vs CSU soccer game at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field on Sept. 25. (Dane Johnson/The Utah Statesman)

Coaching Changes 

After joining the Aggies in October, Walker’s first major test came in late December following the departure of former USU volleyball head coach Rob Neilson. 

With Neilson’s departure, Walker jumped into the task of replacing the three-time Mountain West Coach of the Year, the first of several replacements Walker has made over the past year.  

“I learned it’s different, being on a coaching search and being the guy who has to make the decision,” Walker said in an interview with The Utah Statesman. “The good news for me is the process was able to just go, and I was able to just follow the process that I’m fortunate to be part of and ran for years, and so that experience of having been involved with all the coaching hires that we made at Tennessee and even some previous like that that was incredibly valuable to me.” 

Walker made the decision quickly, hiring new head coach Keith Smith on Jan. 3, just weeks after Neilson’s departure. The hiring involved a lot more than just Walker and his team with the hiring of Smith and also with the hiring of men’s basketball head coach Ben Jacobson and head softball coach Kristen Zaleski just months later. 

“You have to get it right for the student-athletes, and so you start and you end with the student-athletes. …  I don’t ask them for names — I ask them for qualities. Who do they — what are the qualities that they want to see in their next head coach,” Walker said. “We want to win right away, but the key is how do we build this program and create a sustainable one, and how do we have someone that will mesh with kind of what they’re wanting?” 

While Walker has now hired three coaches, all three have been voluntary departures, meaning Walker hasn’t run into the task of letting a coach go up to this point.  

Newly appointed head coach Ben Jacobson poses with Athletic Director Cameron Walker (left) and President Brad Mortensen at the West Stadium Center on Mar. 31. Photo by Sydnie Fonoti

Show Me 

Shortly after the new year in early January, Walker announced the launch of the Show Me initiative, aimed at preparing USU athletics to enter the Pac-12 later in the summer. The initiative targeted everyone from corporations to local businesses and fans. 

The Show Me campaign had a six-month target of 90 Utah State Athletics sponsors (an increase of 10), 135 Blue A Society members (an increase of 35), 1,800 Big Blue Club members (an increase of 400), 8,000 football season ticket holders (an increase of 1,200), back-to-back men’s basketball season-ticket sellouts and $20 million in cash and pledges. 

The campaign also had more aggressive 18-month goals along the same lines.   

“I felt like we needed something that we could act on quicker, that we could get started on immediately, and that we could have something that we could chase and kind of have a report card of where we’re at in six months,” Walker said. “That was really important to get, internally, to get everybody kind of pulling in the same direction — everybody to know what we’re doing.” 

As of the six-month Aug. 1 goal, the initiative eclipsed all of its goals, with 100 total partners (97 local partners), 147 Blue A Society members and 2,193 Big Blue Club members while selling out men’s basketball for the second straight year, selling nearly 8,500 football season tickets and raising over $22 million in philanthropic giving. 

Walker has talked frequently over the last year about not wanting to just be in the Pac-12, but to compete within it. Part of that equation includes a department funded at the level of its peers, something that Utah State typically falls below. For Walker and the department, the Show Me campaign’s six-month goals weren’t meant to be a long-term trajectory but merely give the department a boost as they enter the new conference.  

“To me, that was like a jump-start. Like, we have to at least hit this, and so we’ve got big plans, but I think it is an indicator. If we did that in six months, what can we do in this next year, and what can we do in year two and three and four,” Walker said. “We have to not be comfortable and say we’re going to really stretch ourselves and go to work on achieving this, but I think it was an indicator that that ceiling’s higher than we thought, and I hope that it continues.” 

Gameday Changes 

One of the more controversial decisions that Walker has made over his first year was the changes to the gameday experience within the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum and Maverik Stadium. The most notable, and one that produced the most backlash, was the decision to change the seating in the spectrum to allow for more premium courtside seating, which came at the cost of moving the students. 

The decision sparked some outrage from students and fans but was one that Walker felt was necessary.  

“I had to make a tough call on changing some things, but it’s hard for me to go out and ask people for hard-earned money. It’s hard for me to go to university and ask for help when there’s things within our power that we could do that had seven-figure consequences, and we weren’t willing to take those because I might get flak,” Walker said. “Sometimes in leadership you have to make hard choices, and I think as we weighed the things, this was going to allow us to remain a competitive basketball team, and I think that also is part of the environment.” 

The change was made after deliberation with student and university leadership, with numerous different plans presented before the final decision was made. 

“I also, though, was incredibly appreciative of the HURD. We went to them with several plans. I know word got out about like two of the plans about like, ‘Oh, it’s this or that,’ but, like, we went to them with several plans, and they were heavily involved in doing that,” Walker said. “Our student section, as we all know, is unbelievable. Best student section in the country, in my opinion. They’re incredible, and the way they turn out — I don’t think moving them closer to the opponent’s bench is going to be a negative thing.” 

Utah State athletic director Cam Walker looks on during the Aggies championship win over San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament on Saturday in Las Vegas. (Mark Greenwood/The Utah Statesman)

Utah State has also now made several changes to the gameday experience for Aggie football, including reducing ticket prices, discounting concessions prior to kickoff, creating a fan zone area and prioritizing kids and families.  

Some of these changes were identified by Walker as early as his introductory press conference as areas he wanted to improve.  

Mountain West to Pac-12 

After nearly two years of planning and anticipation, Utah State formally joined the Pac-12 on July 1. While Walker was not part of the original move in 2024, the July change was one he and his team put a lot of work into.  

“Getting in the Pac-12 was well earned. There’s a lot of people on this campus that worked a lot longer, a lot harder than I did. … I kind of got to swoop in in the 24th hour and be a part of it,” Walker said. “For me it was an exciting thing — another testament to what the future can be, and removing sort of limitations. I think it’ll be brand building, and the increased exposure and brand affinity with that brand, I think, will be incredibly valuable to the university.” 

Utah State left the Mountain West on a high note, winning a conference-leading nine conference championships across various sports on its way out the door. Walker is happy with the success of last season but doesn’t want that to diminish in this new conference.  

“I want to win championships, to be frank. That task has gotten harder. That just makes them even better when you win them. Everybody wants to win them, and that’s one of the great things about sports that makes it so compelling and so rewarding when you get there,” Walker said. “It’ll be exciting to see as we get into conference play with all of our sports, where we grow and how we attack that, but yeah, I want to lead the Pac-12. It’s just — I think it’s who we should want to be as Aggies, and it’s certainly who I am.” 

For Walker, this spirit extends to more than just athletic accomplishments on the field.  

“I don’t want to be second in anything. I don’t want to be second in GPA. I don’t want to be second in service hours. I think that we can continue to develop complete student athletes. I think complete student athletes are complete because all aspects of their life build on each other,” Walker said. “I think we can develop champions that are champions in the classroom, in the community and in Pac-12 competition at an incredibly high level.” 

USU Athletics Director, Cameron Walker, talks about the change to the Pac-12 conference to USUSA Fee Board in the Senate Chambers on Jan. 21.

As Walker tries to execute his vision for the department and university, it’s not without the support of those around him. 

“I think he’s exceptional. I think he’s clear on his vision, I think he’s competent and capable in really every area of leadership and the business required to do this job,” head football coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “I think he’s got a strong moral compass, and I think he’s a rising star, and I think we’re really lucky that he’s here at Utah State.” 

While it’s already been a year since Walker was announced as the next athletic director, his official one-year mark will be hit on Oct. 6, just over a week after Utah State’s inaugural Pac-12 conference game.