ESPN news: Tawee Walker finally explains the reasons why he left the sooners.

Tawee Walker, a former running back for Oklahoma, talked candidly about his “hectic” 2023 season and the reasons behind his summer transfer to Wisconsin.

Tawee Walker had no intention of ending his career elsewhere but Oklahoma. After two years away from the game, he was seeking to revive his playing career at Palomar College, and the Sooners became the first major program to express interest in him.

But Walker had the tough choice to go for an opportunity elsewhere in 2023, following a “hectic” season in Oklahoma’s running back room. Soon after Oklahoma’s season concluded in the Alamo Bowl, he made his transfer to Wisconsin through the transfer portal in December.

In an almost 13-minute video that he uploaded to his YouTube account this week, Walker—who finished as OU’s second-leading rusher the previous season—spoke candidly about his intention to better introduce himself to the Wisconsin fan base after his first spring with the Badgers.

“I had the distinct feeling that I was — not imprisoned, but I’m at a loss for words— compressed. I’m simply not realizing my full potential, I don’t even know,” Walker remarked. “It seems like they kind of utilized me as a guy who’s like, ‘Dang, nobody else is doing anything,’ or as a third-down back. Tawee will act, I’m sure of it. Permit me to insert Tawee. I just think that instead of just mixing people up and seeing who will do what, I should have been established as the person or we should have had a one and two for the entire year.”

Walker is right when he points out that Oklahoma’s offense rotated a number of men out of the backfield in the early going and struggled to create a reliable rushing attack.

Following an offseason foot treatment, Jovantae Barnes—who finished 2022 as the second-leading rusher—had persistent problems. Early in the season, a hamstring injury hindered 2022 redshirtee Gavin Sawchuk, who went on to have a breakout performance in the Cheez-It Bowl at the end of that season. Walker saw an early-season opportunity as a result. He started the season’s first game against Arkansas State and for long portions of the year appeared to be Oklahoma’s most dependable option out of the backfield.

Though Walker was able to get tough yards (and “run through trash,” as Brent Venables would frequently say), he rarely saw the majority of touches, even when other running backs in the backfield were injured. This was in contrast to his 117-yard rushing effort against SMU in Week 2. He had zero carries against Tulsa the following week after his SMU effort, and he had a total of nine carries in Oklahoma’s opening two Big 12 games against Iowa State and Cincinnati.

After serving an in-house suspension against UCF, Walker led the team with 15 carries in the Red River Rivalry versus Texas. Tawee Walker was the one bright spot for the Sooners in an awful Kansas loss. Over the remaining five games for the Sooners, Walker was only given 26 carries in total. Despite this, he finished the season with 513 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 5 yards per carry.

During that latter stretch of the season, Sawchuk, on the other hand, became the team’s go-to option. He ran for 744 yards and nine touchdowns on 6.2 yards per carry, surpassing 100 yards in each of the Sooners’ final five games. In fall camp, DeMarco Murray wanted to find a workhorse lead back, but it wasn’t until Sawchuk’s rise that Oklahoma truly settled on a starting option at running back.

“I feel like at practice I did what I was supposed to do, and no one was establishing the No. 1 spot at the beginning of the season, but I feel like I did my part when I got my chance,” Walker stated. “Gavin performed incredible things towards the end of the season. I can’t remember the specific game, but he earned it all. After that opening game, he had his chance, and by the end of the campaign, he had established himself. He accomplished amazing things. Nonetheless, I believe that nobody was truly firmly established in the top slot at the start of the season.

“I believe I ought to have confirmed that. Since I’m a true teammate first and foremost, I think that Gavin did what he had to do at the conclusion of the season, which he earned, but I think that the first half of the season should have seen more improvement since the running back room was just so busy. We were unaware of who was initiating each game.”

Walker continued, describing Oklahoma running back coach DeMarco Murray as a fantastic mentor and coach, and adding that his remarks were not intended as a jab at him, despite the fact that the two had “a couple issues” with each other during the season, which Walker would not go into further detail about.

Walker remarked, “It did nothing but make us stronger.” “I still adore him, and I have a good feeling he feels the same way about me. We no longer communicate due to restrictions and other issues, but after my time in college is up, I’ll probably speak with him once a week. I like that man. He wished for me to stay. I was reluctant to go. Simply put, it was the greatest circumstance for me to take care of my family, as well as the ideal circumstance for myself.”

Walker said he ultimately decided on Wisconsin because of the school’s reputation for producing successful running backs and because of the new offensive coordinator of the Badgers, Phil Longo. Longo’s offense at UNC in 2020 featured a formidable one-two punch at running back with Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, who both exceeded 1,000 yards rushing that season after coming close in 2019. Walker joined the portal after the regular season ended but stayed with OU through its bowl game.

Walker still cherishes his time with the Sooners, despite his departure from Oklahoma. He said that OU will always be his first love and that he hopes to visit the school during a bye week this season (the Badgers are off on September 21, when the Sooners open SEC play at home against Tennessee, and Nov. 9, when Oklahoma visits Missouri).

Walker declared, “I bet on myself for this entire journey.” “I simply know that I put myself in that scenario when I went to the University of Oklahoma, even though I had no idea what would actually happen. I couldn’t accomplish anything if I couldn’t. However, I suddenly see why I’m doing this. I’m taking this on because I know I’m capable of it. I knew I would survive that circumstance, which is why I put myself in it in the first place. It wasn’t an idle endeavor for me.

I didn’t want to take the chance merely to play football; instead, I wanted the opportunity to care for my family and my son, and thus far, things have worked out for me. All I have to do is maintain my composure and keep moving forward.”

“I cherished every aspect about OU. I adore the supporters. one of the biggest fan bases in all of sports, not just college sports. I hope the fans feel the same way about me as I do—that is, that they love and miss me too.”