Camp Campanile: Why Walker Loves New DC’s Attack-Style System

Count Travon Walker among fans of Jacksonville’s new defense, a multiple, attack-style system perfect for him and Josh Hines-Allen.

New Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile created the system. The playbook has fingerprints belonging to Jeff Hafley, Vic Fangio and Brian Flores, but Walker can’t wait to help Campanile give it a Duval flavor.

“Man, I love the attack mentality,” Walker said after the Jaguars’ training-camp practice Thursday morning. “Just the mentality that Camp brings along. He's the same high-energy guy every day. And as a person, looking at someone else, all you can ask for is them to be consistent every day. He’s been that every day.”

Campanile feels the same about Walker, who’s eligible for a lucrative second NFL contract. The first-year defensive coordinator said he can’t wait to get the former No. 1-overall selection into his system in a game that counts.

“Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely,” Campanile said Thursday. “When you know there's a guy like that, it's an exciting thing. Coaches get a lot smarter when you got good players.”

Good players in Campanile’s system have good freedom, liberty that comes from anticipation. He said the goal in the first stages of training camp is to get those players to communicate better. And through repetition, they’ll ultimately play faster.

“So, the more and more you do things,” Campanile said, “the more and more you see things, you talk about things, in the meeting room, you walk through things, and you get a chance to get it at game speed, you're going to communicate better. 

“A call is going to help somebody. So, when our team is communicating, that's when we're usually playing fast. And I see that, through the transition of the spring into the summer. I think our guys did a good job of studying this offseason, and they were able to hit the ground running a little bit when they got out here. Communication was good.”

Walker agreed. Having to learn his third defensive system in his fourth NFL season has been a challenge, but because of his experience, he feels more comfortable.

“Just my mental aspect,” Walker said, “and obviously in the film room, I know exactly what I’m looking for once I go into the film room. Now I have more of a routine when it comes to film study, treatment, things of that nature. I feel like just going into Year 4, I’m a lot more mature when it comes to how I’m carrying myself in the building and how I’m going about myself outside of the building as well.”

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