Aston Walter joined Kennesaw State football in December 2024 and is in his second season as the Owls' running backs coach.
In his first year at Kennesaw State, the Owls rolled up 2,231 rushing yards and produced two 500-yard rushers -- Coleman Bennett and Chase Belcher -- and an NFL signee -- Bennett. In total, Walter’s running backs amasses 1,611 rushing yards and eight scores.
Recognized as one of the top up-and-coming coaches in football, Walter was selected to participate in the prestigious NFL Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowing with the Arizona Cardinals in 2026.
Walter came to Kennesaw after serving as the offensive assistant at Tennessee. The Vols’ run game ranked atop the SEC and ninth nationally in back-to-back seasons in 2023 (204.8 yards per game) and 2024 (232.0 ypg).
While in Knoxville, Walter coached Jabari Small, Jaylen Wright and Dylan Sampson. Sampson was one of the top playmakers in college football, tallying 2,486 rushing yards on 420 carries and 35 touchdowns and finishing his career as the 2024 SEC Offensive Player of the Year, USA Today SEC Player of the Year, first-team all-SEC and second-team all-American.
An explosive back, Wright was the Vols’ leading rusher each of his final two seasons, culminating in All-SEC honors before being selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins.
Prior to Tennessee, Walter worked on the coaching staffs at Vanderbilt (2021) and Texas A&M-Commerce (2020). He’s also a member of the Class of 2024 in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Coaching Academy – a coveted program that gives 25 up-and-coming high school, college or semi-professional level coaches the opportunity to gain valuable classroom and on-field experience with the Bucs during rookie minicamp.
A running back for Rice under then-offensive coordinator and current KSU head coach Jerry Mack, Walter led the Rice Owls in rushing (771 yards), scoring (60 points) total touchdowns (10) and rushing touchdowns (8) in 2019. That season he topped 100 rushing yards in five of his seven conference games, the most by an Owl since joining Conference USA and the most by any Rice back in any conference since Ed Bailey had five in the Western Athletic Conference in 2004.
He finished with 1,744 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 5.1 yards per carry for his career.
Walter, a Crosby, Texas, native received his bachelor’s degree in sport management from Rice in 2019 and his master’s degree in agricultural leadership, education and communications from Tennessee in 2023.
