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Mike Walton returns to Eastern New Mexico for his second season as the Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator for the 2019 season.

In his first season with the program in 2018, Walton commanded a Hounds defense that finished third in the Lone Star Conference in scoring defense, giving up just 22.1 points per game. It was the first time since 2014 that ENMU finished in the top three of the conference in scoring defense and it was the fewest points the Greyhounds have allowed since the 2002 season when Eastern gave up 22.3 ppg. Eastern's best defensive effort of the year came in the annual Wagon Wheel Game at West Texas A&M as ENMU pitched its first shutout over the Buffs since 1992 to bring the Wagon Wheel back to Portales. On the defensive side of the ball, Walton mentored seven defensive players to the all-conference list, which included a pair of standouts in linebacker Noah Sweitzer and safety Dante Urrea to the All-LSC Second Team defense as well as cornerbacks Charles Countee and Ricky Barfield, linebackers Todd Countee and Brad Hardin, and defensive lineman Jamar Claibourn to the Honorable Mention list.

Prior to ENMU, his most recent coaching stop was at Missouri Western State, where he served as Defensive Coordinator and implemented a disruptive style of defense during the 2017 season. His side of the ball at Missouri Western ranked first in the MIAA with 27 takeaways and second in the league with 31 sacks during his one season on the sidelines. 

He has seen 30 players from his units named All-Conference selections over the course of his 17-season coaching career and will return to captain the Hound defense with a great sense of familiarity on what it takes to have individual success on the field in Portales. 

Walton garnered a total of 12 All-American honors throughout his playing career over the course of the 1996-99 seasons at Eastern, and was named the school's Greatest Greyhound recipient three separate occasions in 1997,1998, and 1999. He left the school as the all-time leader in career tackles with 515 and was named the LSC South Defensive Lineman of the Year in 1998. 

A member of the 1999 LSC South Co-Championship team, he immediately made the transition into his coaching career that spanned six seasons between the years 2000-06 at Eastern. He was a safeties coach for one the most talented defensives in ENMU history during the 2000 season, a unit that raked 14th in the nation in total defense and 10th in the nation in pass defense efficiency. 

Walton then turned his focus to the offensive side of the ball during the 2002-05 season, serving in a variety of coaching roles for the Hounds before being named defensive coordinator for the 2006 season. His presence as the captain of the defensive side of the ball was met with immediate improve, as the Hounds improved their scoring defense by six points per game and also improved their rushing defense by 53 yards per contest as well during that season.

His success both on the field and on the sideline saw many suitors come calling for Walton after the 2006 season, and he subsequently took his first Division I job as the Cornerbacks/Recruiting Coordinator/Special Teams Coordinator at Sam Houston State University, a role that he held from 2007-09. He assisted in developing Sam Houston State into one of the FCS's premier special teams units, sporting the number one ranked punt coverage and punt return units in the country.

Walton then returned back to the state of New Mexico for one season as the Co-Defensive Coordinator at New Mexico Military Institute before securing a position as Defensive Coordinator at current LSC rival Angelo State over the course of the 2011-13 seasons. His impact as coordinator was once again felt immediately as he turned the Rams into the top defense in the Lone Star Conference during the 2012 season and the number one ranked rush defense in the following season. 

His success at Angelo set him up for another FCS position, this time at Steven F. Austin University, where he served as Safeties/Special Teams Coordinator and was apart of a staff that guided the Lumberjacks to an FCS playoff appearance in the 2014 season.  

Walton currently holds two degrees from Eastern New Mexico, a Bachelors Degree in Special Education and a Masters Degree in Sports Administration.

Originally from Earth, Texas, Mike currently resides in Portales with his wife Alicia and daughters Lucia and Grace.