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Posted
7/9/06;
Updated
1/1/07
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"Coach
Walker is a great coach who has a profound impact in helping me be who
I am and where I am today. He helped me on and off the
field. He not only coaches the game, but teaches the values such
as hard work, discipline, accountability, personal pride and passion,
which are disappearing in today's society."
--NFL lineman Austin King,
quoted in the 2005 NU Media Guide
Indeed, Coach Randy Walker had a profound effect on everyone he coached
and many more who knew him and knew of him. Beneath the "aw,
shucks" down-home persona was a fierce competitor and a fiercely loyal
and upright instructor of men, who is remembered as much for his
integrity, generosity and warmth as he is for his innovative and
inspirational performance as a football coach.
Coach Walker died suddenly and unexpectedly on June 29, 2006. In
his seven years as head coach of the Wildcats, he took a program that
was chaotic, unbalanced and adrift and turned it into a consistently
solid team, one that was always capable of competing. This feat
was missing even from Coach Barnett's tenure; it was an accomplishment
that had eluded Northwestern for decades.
"Coach
Walker was an inspiration to me both for his successes on the football
field and for his unwillingness to compromise the high intellectual and
moral standards that Northwestern represents in order to win. He will
be missed."
-- Travis Cobb, Northfield, Ohio
Quoted by Stewart Mandel, CNN/Sports Illustrated
Randy Walker in a photo taken during his
player days at Miami (NU Ath. Dept. photo)
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What
made Randy Walker a truly great coach? Among the many assets is
the fact that Walker did not compromise his standards, nor did he
compromise the standards and reputation of the University. Coach
Walker cared about each student-athlete's success in the classroom as
much as on the field. Walker had joked that he could recite each
of his player's GPAs faster than their 40 times. He pulled one
player from spring practice so that the player could work exclusively
on his studies, even though the player was still academically eligible
to practice.
"Coach
Walker had a meeting with the team. He let us know how proud he was of
us, not for what we had accomplished as football players but rather for
how we carried ourselves as men. He closed the meeting out by letting
us know that he loved us. I can say without hesitation that I am the
one who is proud. I am proud that I can stand before others and
proclaim that Randy Walker was my Coach. I am proud because I know that
one day I will be an excellent husband, father, and friend because of
what I learned from him. I am proud because I know I can carry on the
legacy of an incredible man.
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"There will come a time
when my tears will cease and my hurt will start to subside. But the
impact that Coach Walker had on me will never be forgotten. This team
loves one another and we love the game, but we love OUR coach that much
more and we will continue to make him proud."
-- NU player Chris Malleo
quoted from the guest forum on NUSports.com
"I'm not a '1-800' guy. . . "
--Randy Walker
quoted during his introduction as NU's new head coach
What made Randy Walker a truly great coach? How about the fact that he
was loyal nearly to a fault-- to his family, to his staff, to his
players, and to Northwestern. Here is a man who truly wanted to coach at NU. He wanted NU to be his very last stop as a football coach-- sadly, it was, of course.
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"Coach
Walker is a demanding coach who brings out the the best in you.
Even when you don't want to be at your best, he brings it out of
you. He makes you dig deeper than you thought you could."
--NFL linebacker Napoleon Harris
quoted in the 2005 NU Media Guide
"They'll have to kill us to beat us."
--Randy Walker
quoted prior to the 2000 Michigan game
What
made Randy Walker a truly great coach? Walker may not have been
glib, glitzy and eloquent, but he had a dogged determination and a gift
for developing the determination of others. At a school
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Among his finest moments in coaching: Walker is doused
with Gatorade as NU clinches the 2000 Big Ten title.
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like
Northwestern, where the odds always seem against you on the field, that
gift is gold. Words like "Trust," "Respond," and "Finish" weren't
just gimmicky catch phrases: they embodied the spirit that Walker had
and was able to share with his team.
Coach Walker's All-Time Record as a Head Coach
| Year |
Team
|
Win |
Loss |
Tie |
Pct.
| PF
| PA
| Delta
|
|
1990 |
Miami (OH) |
5 |
5
|
1
|
0.500
|
200
|
225
|
-25
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1991 |
Miami (OH) |
6 |
4
|
1
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0.591
|
214
|
140
|
74
|
|
1992 |
Miami (OH) |
6 |
4
|
1
|
0.591
|
210
|
204
|
6
|
|
1993 |
Miami (OH) |
4 |
7
|
0
|
0.364
|
186
|
248
|
-62
|
|
1994 |
Miami (OH) |
6 |
4
|
1
|
0.591
|
262
|
260
|
2
|
|
1995 |
Miami (OH) |
8 |
2
|
1
|
0.773
|
326
|
165
|
161
|
|
1996 |
Miami (OH) |
6 |
5
|
0
|
0.545
|
273
|
168
|
105
|
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1997 |
Miami (OH) |
8 |
3
|
0
|
0.727
|
412
|
226
|
186
|
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1998 |
Miami (OH) |
10 |
1
|
0
|
0.909
|
317
|
142
|
175
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1999 |
Northwestern
|
3 |
8
|
0
|
0.273
|
141
|
301
|
-160
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2000 |
Northwestern |
8 |
4
|
0
|
0.667
|
441
|
400
|
41
|
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2001 |
Northwestern |
4 |
7
|
0
|
0.364
|
320
|
378
|
-58
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2002 |
Northwestern |
3 |
9
|
0
|
0.250
|
272
|
493
|
-221
|
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2003 |
Northwestern |
6 |
7
|
0
|
0.462
|
263
|
326
|
-63
|
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2004 |
Northwestern |
6 |
6
|
0
|
0.500
|
295
|
342
|
-47
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2005 |
Northwestern |
7 |
5
|
0
|
0.583
|
388
|
407
|
-19
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|
Totals |
96 |
81 |
5 |
0.541 |
4520 |
4425 |
95 |
"We're
not going to measure our program by playing good or improvements.
You measure your program by wins and losses. This is Big Ten
football, it isn't the intramural program."
--Randy Walker
Wins and losses were certainly important to Coach Walker, and Walker
certainly improved NU's record-- Walker's last three seasons were the
first three straight six or more-win seasons for the 'Cats since
1931. Walker was the first coach to take NU to three bowl
games. Walker's teams beat every Big Ten opponent at least
once. And who can complain about a lack of memorable wins during
the Walker Era: The Thriller-- Wisconsin 2000? The Masterpiece--
Michigan 2000? Victory Right and The Comeback-- Minnesota
2000? Victory Right II-- Michigan State 2001? Fastball--
Wisconsin 2003? The "33" Game-- Ohio State 2004? The
Gunfight-- Wisconsin 2005? The Onside Kick-- Iowa 2005? A
generation of memories and thrills, packed into seven years. The
seats at Ryan Field weren't always filled, but those who were there
always got their money's worth.
The irony is that Coach Walker was billed as the next Woody Hayes, a
"three yards and a cloud of dust" old-time smashmouth aficionado.
You know: vanilla, no frills, grind it out ball. Boring.
What NU got was a true innovator, the McGuyver of college
football. Come to a new team and find it missing a few key
pieces? No sweat: rig a new offense to suit what strengths you
have. Take a spread offense from the Rams (a system that rose and
fell from favor every few years, with no real improvement), and add a
shotgun, a tough as nails and disciplined running game, and no
huddle. Unleash with fury and no quarter. Walker's
innovative use of the spread offense is his most visible legacy.
However, wins and losses did not make Randy Walker a great coach, nor
did his contribution to the library of football tactics. He was a
man who understood what it meant to coach:
to mentor, to lead, to build, to nurture. His skills with these
far more profound abilities were what set Randy Walker apart.
They made him a truly great coach, a worthy ambassador of Northwestern.
"You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."
Links to Other Articles and Tributes
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Further Tributes to Coach Walker
For the season opener against Miami of Ohio, both teams wore the same
memorial decal on the front of their helmets, a red "41" and the word
"WALK" in purple, signifying Coach Walker's nickname at NU and his
number as a player at Miami. In addition, Northwestern players
wore a patch with the phrase "WALK" on their jerseys for the entire
season (AP Photo).
The program also used the "WALK" logo on the field for all home games in 2006 (HailToPurple.com photo).
NU players take part in the very first "Walk with Us" event, before the 2006 New Hampshire game. Initiated
by
Coach Fitzgerald, the walk takes place two and a half hours before
kickoff at home games, and fans are encouraged to line the area now
known as Walker Way and cheer on the 'Cats. This driveway,
leading to the stadium, has been renamed Randy Walker Way
(HailToPurple.com photo).
Before
the Wildcats' 2006 season finale with Illinois, Northwestern announced
that it had renamed Touchdown Terrace to Randy Walker Terrace. In
the AP photo above, Coach Fitzgerald is shown leading his team from the
locker room to face Illinois. The new "Randy Walker Terrace" sign
is partially visible.
An
unexpected and incredibly classy tribute: the Sun Bowl honored Coach
Walker by displaying a logo dedicated to him during the 2006 Sun Bowl
game (the above photo is courtesy of the Sun Bowl). The game,
between Oregon State and Missouri, had no direct connection to NU, but
Sun Bowl officials felt that it was fitting to honor Coach
Walker. “Randy Walker came to El Paso [in 2005] and left a
lasting impact on our staff and volunteers,” said Bernie Olivas,
executive director of the Sun Bowl Association. “He had a magnetic
personality that drew you in. It did not matter who you were, Randy
made you feel welcome.”
“Randy coached his last game in Sun Bowl Stadium and we wanted to find
a way to honor him,” said John H. Folmer, president of the Sun Bowl
Association. “This is just one small gesture to honor a man who meant
so much too so many people.”
The logo featured purple, black and white ribbons, the initials "RW," and the years of Coach Walker's birth and death.
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