The Interview: Walker Zimmerman

A Fun Interview with the USMNT and Nashville Defender

Walker Zimmerman Played in All Three USMNT World Cup Qualifiers This Month and Captained the Team at Panama (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

I always get excited when I interview somebody one-on-one for the first time and it’s a terrific conversation. That’s what happened when I spoke at length with Walker Zimmerman, the USMNT and Nashville defender who has been on a good run of form for club and country. The 28-year-old brought the goods for a solid half-hour, and I think you’ll really enjoy the following Q&A, which has been lightly edited for clarity.

Grant Wahl:
Our guest now is the reigning MLS Defender of the Year. Walker Zimmerman's Nashville SC is in second place in the MLS East, and he captained the U.S. men's national team for one game of their recent World Cup qualifiers. Walker, it's great to see you. Thanks for coming on the show.

Walker Zimmerman:
Yeah, thanks for having me. Super excited.

Grant Wahl:
This is the first interview I've ever done with an interviewee who is holding a baby. Fill me in. What's the story here?

Walker Zimmerman:
That's it, man. Sometimes duty calls and naps go a little bit unscheduled when they wake up, so here we are.

Grant Wahl:
Fantastic. It is great to have an additional audience here. Thanks for doing double duty on this as well. There's a lot to talk about here, but let's start with Nashville. This team is in just its second year in MLS, got to the final eight of the playoffs last season, and as of right now you have the fifth-best record in the league this season. And it seems to me like you've flown under the radar a little bit. What are the main reasons in your mind that you think Nashville has performed at such a high level the last two seasons?

Walker Zimmerman:
I think they did a great job first and foremost of building the roster and taking a look at expansion teams in the past and the importance of having a good spine. It's a cliche, but when you look at the pieces that they went and acquired throughout the middle of the field and the experience, not only as a professional but MLS experience. You know, I think that it's invaluable, and the club does a good job of allowing a lot of player leadership to dictate to the other guys who might be from abroad, Hey, this is kind of how this team sets up. These are the players that you need to watch out for. This guy's all left-footed.

You just have all these experiences that you can pass on that knowledge to your teammates. I think Nashville did a good job of mixing both MLS experience with international experience, youth with veterans, and they nailed it on the draft as well. So that's a big part of it, and then certainly this second season I think we have taken a leap becoming more than just this team that sits back and defends and knows how to have few goals conceded, but now we're starting to produce more, be a little bit more dangerous, especially in transition. That's kind of made us a little bit more balanced.

“You get to go a little bit deeper with the [USMNT] pod squads. We also have Travis, our mental coach, who does trivia. And so, we have our pod squad challenges that add up points throughout the duration of camp. So, I know me as a competitor, I look at Matt Turner's team, he always is a trivia nerd and he always wins. So anytime I go to camp, the first meal I'm looking at my nametags at the table and I'm like, nope, we don't have a chance, or I'm like, hey, we’ve got a good group this time. Like we might have a go at this thing, but so far no luck. [Turner’s] running the table.” — Walker Zimmerman

Grant Wahl:
So I still remember the day in February of 2020 when you were traded from LAFC to Nashville for a lot in exchange, up to I think it was $1.25 million in general allocation money and then an international roster slot, and that was a blockbuster deal. What were the circumstances of you being informed of that trade and what was your first reaction?

Walker Zimmerman:
It was completely blindsided by it. I understand that teams are always trying to move pieces around and find value in different ways, so there's no hard feelings, but at the time it was a complete bomb. I got a text from [LAFC GM] John Thorrington, it said, "Hey, do you have a minute to chat?." And I'm thinking, you know, oh, he wants to know about this team barbecue that we're having this next weekend about like, you know the details on that with families,and just wants to get my opinion on it. And so, I call him back, you know it's a Monday night, we just started The Bachelor, so it was probably 8 pm.

And so, my wife right before I called him, was like, "Oh my gosh what if you're getting traded?" Kind of jokingly. And I was like, Sally, there's literally a 0% chance that I'm getting traded right now. So, I call him and he is like, "Hey, this news is never going to be easy to hear." And I started snapping at my wife. I mouthed to her. I'm like, "I'm getting traded." She's like, you know immediately turns off the TV, looks at me, and is like, "To where?" And at that time he's like, "You know, we received an offer that we felt like we couldn't pass up and we're trade you to Nashville." And then I mouthed to my wife and I was like, "Nashville?"

Like, you know we were kind of like, okay. That's actually not bad. Like, okay. We can do that. And so first reaction was, thank goodness. This is a city that we had talked about. We knew that they were coming into the league, and we were like, oh, that'd be cool for Nashville to have a team, and then I obviously got traded there. We immediately started researching all about it and got to the city a couple days later, immediately knew it was a place that we'd be able to call home, and you know, got traded on a Monday, got to Nashville Wednesday night, and we were under contract on a house on Saturday. And so, it was a complete blur and an absolute whirlwind of an experience.

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Grant Wahl:
That's an amazing story. And it's interesting because it's a very U.S. type of story because if this were a soccer league outside the United States, they would just say, "Well, the player can refuse the transfer." And a lot of people outside the U.S. don't understand how it works here.

Walker Zimmerman:
Right.

Grant Wahl:
That you just kind of get in and suddenly on a Monday night your life totally changes, which is kind of wild. I'm glad that you liked the place where you were traded to.

Walker Zimmerman:
Yes, that makes it a lot easier to stomach when you get that kind of news.

Grant Wahl:
Would you have expected back then that Nashville would be a better team than LAFC these past two seasons?

Walker Zimmerman:
I would not have expected it back then, just solely off of LA we're coming off of the record-breaking year, which New England looks like they're going to squeak by that with all their one-goal victories that they've had this season, but they've had a great year. But coming off the heels of that Supporters Shield, I thought we were primed to make a run in Champions League in LA. The core of the team was still there, so I would've never guessed it just with knowing how difficult it is for expansion teams to be successful. But again, it's a huge testament to all the pieces that have kind of gotten involved with Nashville and all those things.

Grant Wahl:
In terms of your coach, Gary Smith, I find him kind of fascinating. He won an MLS Cup with Colorado yet has sort of been underrated I would say over the years as a coach in this league. What have you learned about Gary Smith as a coach?

Walker Zimmerman:
I think he's very clear with how he wants his teams to play, and it really is starting with a defensive mindset,, and being solid and difficult to play against. And so, a lot of teams will find that frustrating and maybe start trying to do things outside their comfort zones. Then that's where you can hurt them, whether it's transition, whether it's set pieces, but either way, you know that if you're going against a Gary Smith-coached side, it's going to be tough to beat them. It's going to be tough to break them down. And so he has kind of instilled that mentality in us as, hey, we're going to be very difficult to beat, and if they're going to try and beat us that's maybe when they become exposed, and we can take advantage of them. So it's just been very solid. Definitely a different style of play than what I was used to at LAFC. A little bit more defensive, a little bit more structured and the way that we defend, but ultimately it's a formula that's been really successful for us.

Grant Wahl:
I feel like I've got to ask. What are the best parts of living in Nashville?

Walker Zimmerman:
Oh, wow. The people have been awesome, hospitality, Southern hospitality it's a real thing. Everyone is so friendly, so I would say the people first and foremost. I would say the variation you can get between if you want to go out and listen to music and have that kind of entertainment experience, there's that, but then there's also the piece of the suburbs. The ease of getting around the city. Everything seems to be 10, 15 minutes away, and it's just very manageable. And so, quality of life is high. The mood is high here around Nashville as we're flying, and it's been an awesome fit for me and the fam.

Grant Wahl:
I have to say, when I was there for the World Cup qualifier, I hadn't been in several years and I was not totally prepared for the vehicles with women on them.

Walker Zimmerman:
Yes.

Grant Wahl:
Dancing downtown. What's that about? I never got that.

Walker Zimmerman:
Yeah, this is the bachelorette capital of the world, man. That's just your regular Tuesday afternoon these days. I think we're just through the busy season of the bachelorette parties, but certainly you will have plenty of whether it's tractors, whether it's open buses, whether it's trucks with pools in the back of them, you'll see all sorts of things kind of carting these bachelor parties around.

Grant Wahl:
I was not prepared for that. Had a great time though overall in my stay there.

Walker Zimmerman:
You didn't find yourself on the top of one of those or no?

Grant Wahl:
We'll leave that for a different podcast. I'll tell you my stories. [Laughs] So, let's switch up a little bit to the U.S. men's national team because there's a lot going there as well. You've been a central figure for the U.S. in the World Cup qualifiers. The team's in second place behind Mexico. You're on track to qualify for the World Cup. How are you feeling about the first six qualifiers so far?

Walker Zimmerman:
Yeah, I think we feel good. I think it's like you said, we're in second place. We're in a good position. I think the narrative always gets skewed, and we're just trying to tune that out and focus on the group, and focus on the team, and focus on next play, next game, and really break it down, and simplify it because if you get caught up in all these, oh, we have these fixtures left. We need this amount of points from this game or this game. You can't do that and you're just going to become a head case, so we're trying to block that out a little bit, and just focus on being in the present, being attentive for every play, and just trying to go out there and compete.

We know the responsibility that we have, so it's a really good group. I think guys have really grown over the six games because you know, a lot of us didn't have World Cup qualifying experience, and that was a big storyline, and now we do. Now we're six games in, and not quite halfway there, but I think guys have gained invaluable experience and know what it takes. And so, I think we're excited for the second half of this thing.

Grant Wahl:
The next qualifier is USA-Mexico. One of the great international sports rivalries. What does the USA-Mexico rivalry mean to you?

Walker Zimmerman:
It's huge. These are the games that you want to be in. These are the games that you want to play in. You know it's going to be a different level of intensity, a different level of responsibility, and ultimately when you dream of playing the game as a kid, this is the moment. It's like can you score a game-winner against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier? Like that's it. And so, heading into that game, I know we're really excited. It was a big summer for us, and I know that that's on the Mexico federation's minds as well is, hey, they beat us these past two tournaments to win trophies. We've got to get back at them, so there's a lot of storylines going into that game. I just know that we're excited to go out there and compete, and bring it, and bring three points on our home turf.

Grant Wahl:
So the last qualifying window here was an interesting one for you personally, and you weren't called up initially. And then not only were you called in when Tim Ream pulled out, but you played in all three games. You were the captain for one of them. What's that like to go from not being called up to being the captain?

Walker Zimmerman:
Definitely pretty crazy. Probably not a very common situation, but one I was completely ready for and wanted to embrace that challenge. You know, Gregg [Berhalter] called me before camp and said, "Hey, we're not going to bring you into this." And you know, we had a decent discussion just talking about it. And I was as I would in any other qualifier if I weren't getting called in, I was like, well, I'm ready, I'll be ready. And sure enough, about 24 hours later, I'm getting a call again from him and he's saying, "Hey, we're going to bring you into camp." And I'm like, all right, let's do it. And so, I got there, had a good session, found out I was going to be playing in the first game and I was excited. I think one of the things that Gregg and I had talked about is wanting to get more big-game experience and playing in these qualifiers.

We both knew that the only way for me to get experience was he's going to have to put, me out there. And so I was ready for that, really excited when he told me I'd be playing. And definitely, yeah, I did play with a chip on my shoulder because I knew this is something that I want. It's something I want to be a part of, and just kind of said, I want to be a guy that you know that you can count on and I want to make it hard for you to take me off the field. And so try to just put my best foot forward, bring a lot of energy, bring a lot of passion, and compete in those games that I got to play in. And definitely an honor when you talk about captaining in a World Cup qualifier, and being on the road, especially in Panama. Really disappointed we didn't get the result, and didn't put our best game out there, but you know, when you reflect on it, that's a really incredible accomplishment and kind of another childhood dream that's checked off the list.

Grant Wahl:
Kind of a random question. Do you get to keep the armband?

Walker Zimmerman:
I do. Yeah, so the captains usually get to keep the armband. They'll get to keep the little banner that you exchange or choose not to exchange with the opponent. And so, that'll be awesome. It has the date on it. It has the match. It says, you know, World Cup qualifier, so that's going to be a really cool relic to keep around.

Grant Wahl:
That's awesome. The actual band itself, I hadn't thought about until you just mentioned that.

Walker Zimmerman:
Yeah, yeah.

Grant Wahl:
This is such a young U.S. team that you're like an old guy at 28. Does that require you to do more inside the team from a leadership perspective, and what exactly does that entail?

Walker Zimmerman:
I don't know that it's, you know I don't think it's a requirement that if you're older then you thus have to lead more, but I think certainly my personality, and being around the program for so long at this point, that it's a role that I love and relish. I think more than anything, as I mentioned, a lot of us didn't have a lot of experience. And so, it's about really providing what experience you do have and kind of instilling that in your teammates, really boosting them with confidence, letting them know that you have their back, play free. At the end of the day, just compete. You know, we all have your back, and all those conversations, and interactions, whether it's before the game, at halftime.

I remember even away in Honduras, Mark [McKenzie] and Miles [Robinson] came in, and it's a little bit of dejection because you're down 1-0, and it's like, "Guys, listen. We're going to go out there, we're going to compete. You guys are doing great, keep leading from the back." And really just kind of refreshers of, you know at the end of the day, go out there and do your job, and don't get discouraged. Keep pushing on. And so that's certainly conversations that we have. And then ultimately in training, I think just making sure that the level and the intensity and the competition is there, because sometimes you aren't able to get a lot of training sessions in these one windows, but you want to make sure that the focus is still there.

And so, it's a fine line of how can you try and have a session that's not overbearing to the players with intensity and fatigue, but guys need to have a wake-up call to what the tone is going to be for this camp. And so, I think that's where the experience comes along of making sure everyone's tuned in, focused and ready to compete, and balancing that with kind of the effort that you're putting into the session.

Grant Wahl:
I wanted to check in with you about this because I've reported this a little bit from talking to one or two guys inside the U.S. team. Yeah, I've covered this team for more than 20 years. Like it struck me that at times under [Jürgen] Klinsmann, there were some divisions inside the U.S. team kind of between the German-born guys and the non German-born guys. And then under Bruce Arena there was a little bit of division between the MLS-based players and the European-based players. I don't sense that there's either type of division inside this current team and that's kind of what I've been told. Is that your experience?

Walker Zimmerman:
100%. Yeah. There's no division. In fact, we get so excited when we get to see, whether it's Europeans seeing MLS guys or MLS guys seeing European guys, because we're genuinely friends and our only time to really see each other and hang out is at these camps. And so, you'll see it even with guys that are in similar positions. You know, they come in, they're excited to see each other. They're excited to train together, play together, and it really is a great group. I think that is a testament to how Gregg has kind of made that a priority since day one, was trying to integrate both of these groups that seem separate because of the distance and how can we come together and be one team. And so, that's certainly been a big part of the success of this group.

Grant Wahl:
Also, when you're in camp together as a team because of the COVID protocols, I've understood that you have like eating pods of like four guys.

Walker Zimmerman:
Pod squads, baby. Oh yeah.

Grant Wahl:
Those are the three other guys you eat every meal with, and that sounds interesting to allow you to get to know those three other guys really well. Are there other examples though of being able to actually interact in a non-soccer field sense with your teammates when you're together in camp?

Walker Zimmerman:
It has definitely been different and tough with COVID. This year's been a little bit better than last year, obviously, in that regard, but I think what the pod squads have done too is you're right. You have gotten to know a lot of guys a lot better than you would have. Not that you weren't interacting with them before, but now it's just a deeper level because you're right, it's three meals... Well, really two meals a day because breakfast is open, but two meals a day for two weeks. I mean, you're having a lot of conversations with just those guys. So, you have to kind of touch on deeper things than just what's your favorite food, what's your favorite color. And now we're getting the details out of Sergiño [Dest] about life in Spain, and his experiences at Barcelona, and I've had him in back-to-back camps, so that's been a lot of fun getting to mess around with him.

And again, not that you wouldn't interact with everyone on a normal basis, but you get to go a little bit deeper with the pod squads. We also have Travis, our mental coach, who does trivia. And so, we have our pod squad challenges that add up points throughout the duration of camp. So, I know me as a competitor, I look at Matt Turner's team, he always is a trivia nerd and he always wins. So anytime I go to camp, the first meal I'm looking at my nametags at the table and I'm like, nope, we don't have a chance, or I'm like, hey, we got a good group this time. Like we might have a go at this thing, but so far no luck. He's running the table.

Grant Wahl:
I'm learning things that I don't even see in the behind-the-scenes U.S. Soccer videos.

Walker Zimmerman:
Yeah.

Grant Wahl:
So, I appreciate this window.

Walker Zimmerman:
These are the extra behind the scenes.

Grant Wahl:
If you got a table with Sergiño Dest, I've got to ask because like basically every player on the team tells me he is either the most interesting guy in the team or the craziest guy in the team. I'm wondering where you stand on that.

Walker Zimmerman:
I would say interesting is a good word. He's very particular about the way that he does things. And so especially when it comes to food. I love to give him a little extra banter when he tries to ask... You know we have all this food laid out. You can only imagine, so many different types of diets that you're tending to and a ton of options. Like we are not going hungry at these camps, yet he'll put in a request of like, "Hey, can I have some fresh mac and cheese, like with the normal cheese, like rather than this kind?" And you're like Sergiño, come on bro. But at the end of the day, if that's what's going to make him score left-footed bangers, then be my guest. So we love to give him a hard time. Him and Zack Steffen had some really good conversations and going back and forth this last camp. So again, he's great. He's really he's playing well, and it was fun being at his table for two camps in a row.

Grant Wahl:
You sound like you're enjoying your time with the team and that's cool to hear. There is another side to your situation with the national team in that you can be the captain, but if the team qualifies, you can't be totally certain that you'll be in the 23 for Qatar. What do you need to do to make sure that you're on that plane to the World Cup if the U.S. qualifies?

Walker Zimmerman:
For me, I have to continue to perform with my club. I have to continue to perform when I get opportunities with the national team. I certainly never take either of those things for granted. So every single game it's going out there with a mindset that people are always watching and you're always having to prove something. Even when you think you've proven it, you've got to keep doing it because that's just the situation that I'm in. The situation that quite frankly, we all should be in is you should all be competing against the depth of this team, which we do have every single week.

And so, you know I've spoken with Gregg about that, and know that I'm a guy that has to perform every single week and be consistent and come up big when my name's called upon. So I was happy to get the opportunity to play in these last World Cup qualifiers and will be ready if I'm called on again, but it's not trying to get ahead of myself and just stay focused in the present and try and contribute any way I can, whether I'm on the bench or on the field.

Grant Wahl:
You're a guy who could certainly play in Europe if you wanted to. Is that something you want to do at some point?

Walker Zimmerman:
100% open to it, always. You know, I'm never locked into a certain situation. I want to be able to play at the highest level. And for me, the goal is the World Cup, and looking at club situations and opportunities, always open. For sure. I think it is a harder thing when you look at the frustrations of not having a passport [for an EU country], and you look at the reality of what that does for some American players,, is really frustrating. It's a process that's not perfect, but you know being on the wrong side out of that, or not having the opportunity just because of that is something that I know many players have had to deal with. So that is reality.

For me, I'm again focused kind of similar to talking about the national team and trying to make the World Cup roster, is you've got to just continue to focus on your club, and focus on each game, and hopefully people take notice and watch. And if they approach the club, it's another conversation, but in order for any of that to happen, it's controlling what you can control. That's just the week in and week out consistency, but am I open to it? Absolutely. I always have been and always want to play at the highest level that I can, so definitely open to it.

Grant Wahl:
Last question. Do you have any good Dax McCarty stories?

Walker Zimmerman:
Oh, do I ever. Absolute legend. I don't know if I can tell 75% of those on-air, but he's been amazing. I mean, such a class-act veteran presence in our locker room. He was the perfect guy to bring in and captain this club in its inaugural seasons and certainly has set a standard here in Nashville. I'll spare him some of the stories he shares in confidence this time around.

Grant Wahl:
Walker Zimmerman's Nashville SC is in second place in the MLS East. He also captioned in the U.S. men's national team for one game of their recent World Cup qualifiers. Walker, thank you so much for coming on the show. Good luck the rest of the MLS season.

Walker Zimmerman:
You got it. Thanks.