Junior safety Tanner Volk was awarded the Cliff Harris award which is given to the nation’s top defensive player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II. His season consisted of 124 total tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, 17 pass deflections and a NCAA leading 13 interceptions.

Not only is Volk the first ever Wildcat to win this award, but also the first junior to do so. 

However, Volk has his sights set on bringing a different kind of trophy to CWU, saying, “To be the first one in school history is pretty cool, but you know at the end of the day the ultimate goal is to win a national championship.” 

As the award was announced, Volk received many text messages from coaches and teammates congratulating him for doing something that has not been done in either CWU history or NCAA Division II history.

Being with his dad when he heard about winning the Cliff Harris award, Volk said that sharing this moment with him was special because he was also his high school football coach.

While some athletes may struggle to play underneath family members in their sports, Volk’s outlook is a bit different. 

“I was able to learn a lot of life lessons through him and I kind of look at him as like my character development coach,” Volk said. “I talk to him a lot and make sure that I’m being a great man of character and bringing those aspects of life to my teammates and peers around me.”

Volk mentioned his appreciation for his dad not being the type of coach to start his son in a game because of family ties, but instead he would push him hard and make him work for it.

While Volk has been a starter for the Wildcats since he arrived, he said that he looked at his first season as a time to get used to the college level game. Following his freshman year, he wrote down a list of goals he sought to accomplish. This included winning the Cliff Harris award, which he is now able to cross off the list.

Volk spoke on his thought process about success in Division II college football. “Hard work pays off in the end and really just be patient with yourself and [know] you might not always have the results at first,” Volk said.

The coaches of the CWU football team raved about the football IQ that Volk brings to the football field.

“Growing up a coach’s kid and kind of growing up in a locker room around all the meetings and around football, I think it gave him an advantage and helped him start freshman year, which is incredibly tough to do,” head football coach Chris Fisk said. “It is like having a coach out on the field, not only can he do his job at a high level, but he can affect those around him at a high level.”

Defensive coordinator Grant Torgerson praised Volks ability to know what the offense is going to do with the ball and where to position himself due to the preparation he puts in.

Safeties coach Ronnie Scott mentioned how coaching Volk changed his perspective on life. “I’ve learned how to be a good person,” Scott said. “He is a great human being, and it reminds you how much bigger than the game of football things are. He is the first person in getting things ready and the last person out cleaning up. It takes you back and kind of gives you a different perspective on life.” 

When Volk looked back on the latest season, he was able to put the journey into one word: history.

“I feel like we accomplished a lot of things that could go down in the history books and this past season might be a team that goes into our hall of fame,” he said. “We passed a lot of people’s expectations.”