Miami football: 25 greatest Hurricanes of all time
By Joe Romano
23. Steve Walsh
Quarterback, 1986-1988
It is no easy task to replace a Heisman winning quarterback but that is what Jimmy Johnson pegged Steve Walsh to do. In 1986 Walsh was the back-up to Heisman winner Vinny Testaverde, his second season on campus after a 1985 redshirt year. Walsh was an All-American from Minnesota who was a highly touted recruit upon arrival. In today’s college football landscape, there is little chance he sticks around for two years before getting his shot.
When the time did come for Walsh to start, he continued the excellence set forth by the players before him like Testaverde and Jim Kelly. Walsh would lose only one game as a starter in his college career. His best season came in 1987 when he lead the Hurricanes to a National Championship. In 1988, that lone loss, to Notre Dame, cost them a chance at back-to-back titles. In that season Walsh finished second in the Davey O’Brien award and fourth in the Heisman.
He would forgo his last year of eligibility to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft. Walsh was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the supplemental draft, a move that cost the Cowboys the first overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft.
Walsh would never be able to beat out Troy Aikman and was traded to the Saints for three draft picks, including a first. He would bounce around a bit, never finding a home. His last stint in the pros came backing up second-year quarterback Peyton Manning before retiring.