Christopher Wallace is expected to start at Rover safety for South Alabama on Saturday, and to say he took a non-traditional path to his current position is underselling it just a bit.

A former walk-on, Wallace missed two full years of football after high school while trying to find somewhere to play. He played primarily on special teams for the Jaguars the last two seasons, impressing coaches enough that he was placed on scholarship prior to spring practice.

“It’s amazing,” Wallace said. “All the hard work I put in the last two years is really paying off. I’ve been sitting behind some good players and just doing special teams the last two years. I feel like it’s my time now.”

Wallace played his high school ball just outside Mobile in Semmes at Mary G. Montgomery, which never posted a winning record or made the playoffs during his career. He was a good (but not great) high school player with questionable grades, and thus received little recruiting interest from four-year schools.

Wallace graduated from MGM in 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic. He spent a semester at Bishop State Community College (which doesn’t field a football team) getting his academics in order before trying out at three Mississippi junior colleges — Mississippi Gulf Coast, East Mississippi and Jones.

“At the time, they were only taking 10 out-of-state players,” Wallace said. “I tried out and they never called me back. … I came close to quitting at that point, but my family really kept me going. It was just the drive they instilled in me when I was little. I never gave up and I wanted this for myself also.”

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So Wallace came back to Mobile, and enrolled at South Alabama as a regular student. He’d had some conversations while he was still in high school about walking on with the Jaguars program when Steve Campbell was head coach, but had no relationship with the new staff after Kane Wommack took over in 2021.

Wallace was working out one day on the South Alabama intramural fields when then-Jaguars linebackers coach — and current defensive coordinator — Will Windham spotted him. Windham invited Wallace to the team’s next walk-on tryouts and he made the team as a non-scholarship player prior to the 2022 season, showing the kinds of traits Jaguars coaches were looking for in their defensive contributors.

It’s just dependability,” head coach Major Applewhite said. “He keeps his eyes in the right place, gets where he needs to be. We all have strengths and weaknesses as players, but one thing that he’s shown is he could be dependable and that’s what you’re looking for. You need to have those type of people in the middle of your defense in the back end.”

Wallace didn’t get any game reps on defense as a freshman in 2022, but was ahead of several scholarship players in the practice rotation at cornerback. He played in eight games on special teams that season, then appeared in all 13 games at safety and on kickoff and punt coverage teams in 2023, finishing with six tackles.

Starting Rover safety Jalen Jordan graduated after 2023, leaving a first-team job open for the taking. Wallace rotated with program veteran Mike Harris — a former Baylor transfer — during both the spring and early in preseason camp, but was the first Rover on the field in both of the Jaguars’ scrimmages this August (he and Harris are technically listed as co-starters at the position on the team’s official depth chart for Saturday’s season-opener vs. North Texas).

“He’s done a great job coming into camp and he’s really taken over that field safety role for us,” said Windham, who also doubles as the Jaguars’ safeties coach. “He and Mike Harris will both play that spot, similar to how Mike and Jalen Jordan did last year. Mike flashes at times, and then Chris is just ‘steady Eddie’ back there; he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be. He’s built a real trust with the defense and even among the players.”

By the way, Wallace is fully aware that he shares his name with the late and legendary rapper Biggie Smalls, AKA “The Notorious B.I.G.” — whose given name was also Christopher Wallace. It’s just a coincidence, however.

Wallace’s father, Christopher Sr., played football at North Alabama in the late 1980s, a full half-decade before his namesake rapper came onto the national scene. Nevertheless, it made for some funny moments during his school days, the younger Wallace said.

“I get that all the time,” Wallace said with a laugh. “Every time I’d go into a new class, the teacher would call my name and they’d be like ‘Hmmmm.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know who Biggie Smalls is. I’m not as big as him.’ But you know, it’s all right.”

Wallace learned he was on scholarship in January, which he said took a significant financial burden off his family. And so far, it seems as if his performance in practice has rewarded his coaches’ confidence in him.

When he’s on the field defensively on Saturday, Wallace will share the back line of the South Alabama defense with Jaden Voisin, the Jaguars’ All-Sun Belt Conference free safety. Voisin said he has been impressed with both Wallace and Harris in the preseason.

“I think they’re stepping up and they have to,” Voisin said. “Mike and Chris both made some plays last year. I think Chris is stepping into that starting role. He’s prepared and he’s not scared, which is great.”

• Speaking of former walk-ons, Applewhite moved another player away from non-scholarship status Wednesday.

Applewhite announced after Wednesday’s practice that wide receiver Keyshawn Woodyard has been placed on scholarship. The former UMS-Wright standout appeared in five games for the Jaguars in 2023, catching three passes for 47 yards.

In a video posted on the South Alabama Football X account, Applewhite called up Woodyard in front of his teammates and began ticking off reasons why he’d earned a scholarship. After the surprise announcement, Woodyard was mobbed by his teammates.

“Ready when called upon,” Applewhite said. “Got in games last year, caught balls. He’ll be ready to go on kickoff return and punt (teams) this weekend. And he’s an unbelievable freakin’ teammate, an unbelievable teammate. And we all know why he’s up here, right? Because he’s gonna go on scholarship.”

Here’s the video:

South Alabama and North Texas kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium. The game will stream live via ESPN+.