I was very saddeened to wake up this morning to the news of the passing of Randy Walker, the head football coach at Northwestern University.
While I'm not a big fan of college football and I don't follow Northwestern sports closely I do remember when the Wildcats hired Walker following Gary Barnett, former football coach, leaving town.
Their football program was in turmoil after Barnett's sudden and somewhat selfish departure. It was riding a recent high after a very lengthy drought and was in jeopardy of spinning out of control with the sudden and dramatic change at the helm.
Randy Walker was not a big guy, yet he was a standout running back for Miami University in Ohio. He brought the same tough, determinedness that served him well as a player to the gridiron in Evanston.
I was impressed with his resume when it was reported in the local press after the announcement of Randy being named head coach. I phoned him shortly after that announcement to congratulate him on landing the position.
I quickly sensed during our conversation that Randy truly was everything that had been reported. We had a brief, but enjoyable chat. He impressed me as being extremely committed to Northwestern's football program and his old school football competentcy was evident.
My alma mater, Oregon State University, and Northwestern shared the ignominious status of being the doormat for NCAA Division I football for many, many years running. My interest in Northwestern football was primarily based on this shared misery that they had with Oregon State University.
Both programs finally were turned around and continue to be relatively successful, especially as contrasted with their fairly recent past. It took alot of energy at both schools to turn those moribund football programs around into ones with respectability.
In Northwestern's case, Gary Barnett certainly deserves much of the credit for the ascension of the Wildcat football program, but Randy Walker should be remembered for working hard, always being decent, and guiding their program to be near the top and keeping it from slipping back into oblivion.
He will be missed...but not forgotten.
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