FROM WALK-ON TO HALL OF FAME
11/13/2025 11:39:00 PM | Football, "B" Association
Derek Turner was a two-time All-SWC defensive end who blocked seven kicks
This is the ninth and last in a series of stories profiling this year's inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor, which have been posted every week at BaylorBears.com.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Like a traveling door-to-door salesman, Derek Turner took his football highlight reel from tiny Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Okla., hit the road and went to school after school, just "trying to figure out who would take me."
That's a snapshot of what the recruiting process looked like for a two-way lineman who earned all-state honors at a school that was "basically out in the cow pasture."
"Deer Creek wasn't very big back then," he said. "Now, they're 6A, the highest level in Oklahoma. But it was a 1A school when I was there."
It was so small that when then-Baylor football coach Grant Teaff drove by the school, he just laughed and said, "There's no way a kid would ever get recruited out of here."
And true to Teaff's words, Turner certainly wasn't "recruited" to Baylor. But when he got off the plane after flying from Edmond to Waco and met defensive line coach Bill Hicks, "I knew this is where I wanted to go."
Walking on at Baylor, Turner became a two-time All-Southwest Conference defensive end for the Bears. And now, 40 years later, he is part of the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class that will be honored Friday night.
"This means a lot," said Turner, who is president of Turner & Company, a construction and real estate development firm in Edmond. "I never really anticipated something like this, but it's a big honor, especially coming from where I started."
Where Turner started was on the second-team freshman offensive line, "about as far down the totem pole as you could be. I never quite understood why, but I found out years later, and it's kind of comical. But it took me a while to get moved over to the defense."
Redshirting as a freshman in 1981, Turner was on the scout team offensive line that went against the No. 1 defense every day, "and I think that's where I earned the right to move to defense."
The Bears were stacked at linebacker, bringing in a freshman class that included Alan Jamison, Ervin Randle, Kevin Hancock and John Breit. But the bigger problem for Turner was that defensive coordinator Corky Nelson "didn't want anyone from Oklahoma playing for him," Turner said, "and he expressed that rather colorfully, if you remember Corky."
Before leaving to take the head coaching job at North Texas State in 1982, "Corky graciously allowed me to move to defense," Turner said. "I went to linebacker, and literally halfway through spring, they moved me to defensive end. I don't know what it was, I just kept getting bigger."
After another year on the scout team, this time on defense, Turner backed up All-SWC pick Randle at left end as a third-year sophomore in '83 and registered 19 solo tackles, seven assists and two blocked kicks.
Before earning a scholarship the spring after his sophomore season, Turner got scraps when it came to uniforms and equipment.
"Everybody else had the nice Nike shoes that kind of pushed the heat away from your feet," Turner said. "And the walk-ons got the Converse high tops. We were fighting for whatever we could get uniform-wise and things like that."
All-American offensive lineman Mark Adickes took Derek "under his wing" and taught him the techniques that other defensive players used against him.
"We would go and watch film, and he would say, 'Okay, this is what you want to do. Don't do what you do, I want you to do what he does,''' Turner said. "I got to learn a lot from a lot of different people."
In his two years as a starter, Turner racked up 152 tackles with 24 stops behind the line, six fumble recoveries and seven blocked kicks, earning unanimous all-conference honors as a senior for a nine-win team that beat LSU, 21-7, in the Liberty Bowl.
Turner was the defensive team captain for the 1985 Baylor team that set a school record, allowing just 13.2 points per game and 145 total in the 11-game regular season. During SWC play, the Bears didn't allow a touchdown in 13-consecutive quarters.
"We were in the top 10 in run defense, and we were there for quite some time," Turner said. "We really took a lot of pride in our defense."
Derek and his wife, Adrienne, have two children, Harrison and Graham, and three grandchildren.
"What I remember are the times we spent together," Derek said of his Baylor days. "If you asked me the score of a game, I couldn't tell you. But I can tell you what happened in the game and how much fun we had getting ready for the game. It was a special time."
Joining Turner in the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class are fellow football players Bryce Petty and Cyril Richardson, LaceDarius Dunn from men's basketball, equestrian's Samantha Schaefer, Taylor Ormond from women's tennis, Hannah Burke from women's golf and baseball player Chris Durbin. Former football manager Dusty Sanderson will be added to the "B" Association Wall of Honor.
The 2025 Hall of Fame banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, in the Hurd Welcome Center Grand Ballroom on the Baylor University campus.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Like a traveling door-to-door salesman, Derek Turner took his football highlight reel from tiny Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Okla., hit the road and went to school after school, just "trying to figure out who would take me."
That's a snapshot of what the recruiting process looked like for a two-way lineman who earned all-state honors at a school that was "basically out in the cow pasture."
"Deer Creek wasn't very big back then," he said. "Now, they're 6A, the highest level in Oklahoma. But it was a 1A school when I was there."
It was so small that when then-Baylor football coach Grant Teaff drove by the school, he just laughed and said, "There's no way a kid would ever get recruited out of here."
And true to Teaff's words, Turner certainly wasn't "recruited" to Baylor. But when he got off the plane after flying from Edmond to Waco and met defensive line coach Bill Hicks, "I knew this is where I wanted to go."
Walking on at Baylor, Turner became a two-time All-Southwest Conference defensive end for the Bears. And now, 40 years later, he is part of the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class that will be honored Friday night.
"This means a lot," said Turner, who is president of Turner & Company, a construction and real estate development firm in Edmond. "I never really anticipated something like this, but it's a big honor, especially coming from where I started."
Where Turner started was on the second-team freshman offensive line, "about as far down the totem pole as you could be. I never quite understood why, but I found out years later, and it's kind of comical. But it took me a while to get moved over to the defense."
Redshirting as a freshman in 1981, Turner was on the scout team offensive line that went against the No. 1 defense every day, "and I think that's where I earned the right to move to defense."
The Bears were stacked at linebacker, bringing in a freshman class that included Alan Jamison, Ervin Randle, Kevin Hancock and John Breit. But the bigger problem for Turner was that defensive coordinator Corky Nelson "didn't want anyone from Oklahoma playing for him," Turner said, "and he expressed that rather colorfully, if you remember Corky."
Before leaving to take the head coaching job at North Texas State in 1982, "Corky graciously allowed me to move to defense," Turner said. "I went to linebacker, and literally halfway through spring, they moved me to defensive end. I don't know what it was, I just kept getting bigger."
After another year on the scout team, this time on defense, Turner backed up All-SWC pick Randle at left end as a third-year sophomore in '83 and registered 19 solo tackles, seven assists and two blocked kicks.
Before earning a scholarship the spring after his sophomore season, Turner got scraps when it came to uniforms and equipment.
"Everybody else had the nice Nike shoes that kind of pushed the heat away from your feet," Turner said. "And the walk-ons got the Converse high tops. We were fighting for whatever we could get uniform-wise and things like that."
All-American offensive lineman Mark Adickes took Derek "under his wing" and taught him the techniques that other defensive players used against him.
"We would go and watch film, and he would say, 'Okay, this is what you want to do. Don't do what you do, I want you to do what he does,''' Turner said. "I got to learn a lot from a lot of different people."
In his two years as a starter, Turner racked up 152 tackles with 24 stops behind the line, six fumble recoveries and seven blocked kicks, earning unanimous all-conference honors as a senior for a nine-win team that beat LSU, 21-7, in the Liberty Bowl.
Turner was the defensive team captain for the 1985 Baylor team that set a school record, allowing just 13.2 points per game and 145 total in the 11-game regular season. During SWC play, the Bears didn't allow a touchdown in 13-consecutive quarters.
"We were in the top 10 in run defense, and we were there for quite some time," Turner said. "We really took a lot of pride in our defense."
Derek and his wife, Adrienne, have two children, Harrison and Graham, and three grandchildren.
"What I remember are the times we spent together," Derek said of his Baylor days. "If you asked me the score of a game, I couldn't tell you. But I can tell you what happened in the game and how much fun we had getting ready for the game. It was a special time."
Joining Turner in the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class are fellow football players Bryce Petty and Cyril Richardson, LaceDarius Dunn from men's basketball, equestrian's Samantha Schaefer, Taylor Ormond from women's tennis, Hannah Burke from women's golf and baseball player Chris Durbin. Former football manager Dusty Sanderson will be added to the "B" Association Wall of Honor.
The 2025 Hall of Fame banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, in the Hurd Welcome Center Grand Ballroom on the Baylor University campus.
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