College Achievers: For Prospect graduate Owen Walter, Army football is a snap
Recruited as an athlete first and a long snapper second, Owen Walter’s football highlight tape he created his senior year at Prospect High School featured his play as an H-back, like a tight end, and as a Wildcat-style quarterback.
At the end, Walter added footage of him as the Knights’ long snapper. Head coach Dan DeBoeuf and special teams coach Tim Beisher then sent the video to colleges.
First contacted by Libertyville native Tucker Waugh, then on Army coach Jeff Monken’s staff and now executive director of player personnel, Walter also took a call from Black Knights special teams coordinator Sean Saturnio.
Recalling the conversation, Walter said Saturnio was not overwhelmed. His snapping skills weren’t great, the coach told him, but would improve due to Walter’s athleticism.
Army went on to offer him. Walter gladly accepted.
“I wanted to play college football and I wanted to serve in the military,” Walter said, as he had told his father, Brian, in a heart-to-heart.
Now a senior three-year starter at Army, his snaps obviously have improved. In August, Walter was named to the 20-man preseason watch list for the Patrick Mannelly Award honoring the best long snapper in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
(St. Charles North graduate and Army third-year starting guard Paolo Gennarelli also earned watch list notice, for the Lombardi Award going to the top FBS lineman.)
In addition, Walter was named a team captain for this season.
“I could not have pictured being where I am today,” said Walter, 23. “It’s the greatest honor, especially being named a captain, voted on by my teammates to be in this position to lead them. Especially as a long snapper, which is unheard of.”
The Arlington Heights product, in for Army punts, field goals and extra points, reached the New York military academy without the private camp evaluations used by many long snappers.
He picked it up his sophomore year at Prospect under Beisher’s tutelage, and that of former Wisconsin walk-on Zach Zei, two years older in school.
“I just learned from there and continued to grow and refine my craft. Kind of just based off feel and what worked and what didn’t,” Walter said.
“I did long snapping because that’s what the team needed, and then I came here to West Point. That was an opportunity where the position needed to be filled and so I stepped into it,” he said.
An engineering management major with a focus on infrastructure engineering, this year is a busy one for Walter on and off the field.
In July he proposed marriage to a girl out of Blue Ridge, Ga., and more recently he had interviews to determine where he’ll serve in the Army. Walter hopes for infantry duty and will find out in December if he gets it. In February, he’ll pick where he will be stationed.
“That will be my Army career,” said Walter, who has a younger brother, Aiden, who is a men’s basketball manager for Tom Izzo at Michigan State.
“And then if the NFL presents itself, I’m waiting to look into that until after the season. We play Bryant this week (last Saturday), and so I’m worried about putting us in the best position to beat Bryant,” he said.
Walter has nothing but praise for his experience at Army. Be it his instructors, his coaches, his opportunity to serve, even the teammates battling for his long snapper job, Walter has “fallen more and more and more in love with it,” he said.
He credited his faith for putting him in this position.
“I’m just incredibly blessed,” Walter said.
Golden toes
In other football preseason news, Texas A&M kicker David Olano (Naperville North) and University of Miami (Fla.) kicker Jack Olsen (Wheaton Warrenville South) both were named to the Lou Groza Collegiate Place Kicker Award watch list for top FBS kickers.
Last season at Illinois, Olano tied a program mark with five field goals in a game, against Purdue.
Olsen, 19 of 21 on field goals in 2025 at Northwestern, holds Illinois’ prep record for field goals in a game with eight, achieved against Metea Valley in 2018.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com