Randy Walker (football coach)

College coach infobox
Name = Randy J. Walker


Caption =
DateOfBirth = birth date|1954|5|29|mf=y
Birthplace = Troy, Ohio
DateOfDeath = June 29 2006
Sport = Football
College =
Title = Head Coach
CurrentRecord =
OverallRecord = 96-81-5
Awards =
Championships = Big Ten Conference "2000"
CFbDWID = 2420
Player = Trigger
Years = 1973-1975
Team = Miami University
Position = Running Back
Coach = Trigger
CoachYears = 1990-1998
1999-2005
CoachTeams = Miami University
Northwestern University
FootballHOF =

Randy J. Walker (May 29 1954 – June 29 2006) was the head football coach of the Northwestern University Wildcats of the Big Ten Conference. His overall record as a collegiate head coach was 96-81-5. He also won more games than any head coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, ahead of legendary coaches such as Sid Gillman, Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, Bill Mallory and Ara Parseghian.

Playing career

Walker played three years for the Miami University Redskins in Oxford under head coaches Bill Mallory and Dick Crum. His teammates included current Illinois coach Ron Zook and NFL standouts Rob Carpenter and Sherman Smith. In his three years the team went 32-1-1 and was ranked #15 in 1973, #10 in 1974 and #12 in 1975. Miami won the Mid-American Conference in all three years. Miami also went to the Tangerine Bowl (presently the Capital One Bowl) where they beat Florida in 1973, Georgia in 1974 and South Carolina in 1975. In his senior year Walker was named the team's most valuable player. For his career he ran for 1757 yards.

Coaching career

Miami University

After spending 11 years as an assistant at Miami University, North Carolina, and Northwestern, Walker became Miami's 30th head coach, succeeding Tim Rose whose contract was not renewed. In his first year the RedHawks posted a 5-5-1 record, which was a vast improvement for a team that had only won two games in the two previous years. Walker made steady improvement in his nine years, culminating with a 10-1 record in his last year with the RedHawks. This team was led by record-breaking running back Travis Prentice. Walker finished with 59-35-5 record including several victories over ranked opponents form major conference such as #25 Northwestern in 1995, #12 Virginia Tech in 1998 and #12 North Carolina in 1999. However, he never won the Mid-American Conference Championship.

Northwestern University

Randy Walker had a 37-46 career record at Northwestern. In 2000, Walker overhauled the offense and introduced the spread formation. Unlike most other spread offenses, Walker's featured a very strong running game. His run game was so strong, in fact, that only one season in Walker's entire time at Northwestern did he fail to coach a 1000-yard rusher. This offense helped the Wildcats share the Big Ten title in his second year. He is second behind Pappy Waldorf in career victories. Walker also was the first Wildcat coach to lead three different teams to bowl games. In addition, he became the first Wildcat coach ever to guide three straight teams to four or more Big Ten wins.

On June 29 2006, Walker, who was only 52, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack, leaving the Northwestern community stunned. He had battled a viral heart infection in the fall of 2004. On July 7, 2006 Pat Fitzgerald was named to replace him as head coach of the Wildcats.

"Head coaching record"

References

* [http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/walker_randy00.html NU profile]
* [http://muredhawks.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/05-mediaguide.html Miami 2005 media guide]
* [http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/063006aaa.html nusports.com Story regarding Walker's death]
* [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13625191/ MSNBC "Northwestern's Walker dead at 52" June 30, 2006]

External links

*findagrave|14775660