A STAR IS BORN
FORMER WALK-ON WALLACE THRIVING FOR CRIMSON TIDE
On an Alabama football roster overrun with four- and five-star signees, cornerback Levi Wallace has proven there is still room for a former walk-on who refuses to be denied.
The 6-foot, 183-pound senior from Tucson, Ariz., didn’t play a single snap for the Crimson Tide during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, and he played as a reserve in 11 of 15 games last season. Wallace now plays alongside the heralded likes of Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ronnie Harrison and is more than holding his own, compiling 23 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions for Alabama (8-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) heading into Saturday night’s showdown against LSU (6-2, 3-1) at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
“We’ve had a lot of walkons through the years who have done a really good job of becoming contributors to the team,” coach Nick Saban said in a recent news conference, “and Levi has probably done it as well as any of them.”
Other notable walk-ons of the Saban era include former safety Rashad Johnson, former long snapper Carson Tinker and current outside linebacker Jamey Mosley.
Wallace has been so stellar — his combination of three interceptions and nine pass breakups leads the team — that The Associated Press recently tabbed him and Fitzpatrick to its midseason All-American team.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know midseason All-Americans existed,” Wallace told reporters. “I was just trying to help my team win each and every week.”
Wallace figured he was finished with football after high school, but his father urged him to consider walking on at Alabama. His father died the morning of the 2014 A-Day spring game, leaving Wallace with an added desire to succeed.
Saban offered him a scholarship during preseason camp last year, and Wallace had three-tackle performances in routs of Kent State and Mississippi State. In last season’s Iron Bowl, he replaced an injured Marlon Humphrey and played his most significant minutes of the season.
“I think the key to Levi’s success is the due diligence that he sort of goes about his work with,” Saban said. “He’s worked hard to get bigger and stronger. He’s a real technician as a player, and he’s a smart, instinctive guy. He played a bit for us last year and was our third corner quite a bit of the time.
“We’ve had a lot of walk-ons through the years who have done a really good job of becoming contributors to the team, and Levi has probably done it as well as any of them.”
– COACH NICK SABAN
“He was on the radar all last year and played in some big games, like the SEC championship, and he competed for a starting job this year and ended up winning it. He’s done a nice job for us.”
Wallace battled sophomore Trevon Diggs in preseason camp for the starting cornerback spot opposite Anthony Averett. Diggs got the nod in the opener against Florida State in Atlanta, but Wallace came off the bench and made his first career interception.
There were two more interceptions for Wallace in Alabama’s 66-3 bludgeoning of Ole Miss on Sept. 30, including a 35-yard return for a touchdown, and his most recent showing against Tennessee on Oct. 21 yielded a career-high six tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks in the 45-7 rout. The SEC named Wallace its defensive player of the week for his performance against Ole Miss and co-defensive player of the week for his performance against Tennessee.
All the honors have resulted in an enhanced awareness of Wallace around Tuscaloosa.
“I get a couple more people who come up and say ‘Good game this weekend’ and things of that nature,” Wallace said. “If I’m with Minkah and we go out, they always recognize him. Then they’re like, ‘Are you Levi?’
“They’re starting to recognize my face, but I don’t think too much about it.”