Randy Walker (football coach)

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Randy J. Walker
Date of birth May 29, 1954
Date of death June 29, 2006
Sport Football
Title Head Coach
Overall Record 96-81-5
Championships
  won		 Big Ten Conference 2000
Coaching Stats College Football DataWarehouse
School as a player
1973-1975 Miami University
Position Running Back
Schools as a coach
1990-1998
1999-2005		 Miami University
Northwestern University

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.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] Coaching career

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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. This offense helped the Wildcats share the Big 10 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 died suddenly of an apparent heart attack, leaving the Northwestern community stunned. On July 7, 2006 Pat Fitzgerald as named to replace him as head coach of the Wildcats.

Head coaching record

School Year Overall (Conf./place) Bowl game
Miami University 1990 5-5-1 (4-3-1/5th) MAC None
Miami University 1991 6-4-1 (4-3-1/3rd T) MAC None
Miami University 1992 6-4-1 (5-3/3rd T)MAC None
Miami University 1993 4-7 (3-6/9th) MAC None
Miami University 1994 6-4-1 (5-3/3rd) MAC None
Miami University 1995 8-2-1 (6-1-1/2nd) MAC None
Miami University 1996 6-5 (6-2/2nd T) MAC None
Miami University 1997 8-3 (6-2/2nd T) MAC East None
Miami University 1998 10-1 (7-1/1st T) MAC East None
Northwestern 1999 3-8 (1-7/10th) Big Ten None
Northwestern 2000 8-4 (6-2/1st T) Big Ten Alamo Bowl
Northwestern 2001 4-7 (2-6/10th T) Big Ten None
Northwestern 2002 3-9 (1-7/10th T) Big Ten None
Northwestern 2003 6-7 (4-4/7th) Big Ten Motor City Bowl
Northwestern 2004 6-6 (5-3/4th) Big Ten None
Northwestern 2005 7-5 (5-3/3rd) Big Ten Sun Bowl
Total 16 years 96-81-5

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Preceded by
Tim Rose		 Miami University Head Football Coaches
1990-1998		 Succeeded by
Terry Hoeppner
Preceded by
Gary Barnett		 Northwesten University Head Football Coaches
1999-2006		 Succeeded by
Pat Fitzgerald


Miami Redskins/RedHawks Head Football Coaches
Fauver • Merrill • McIntyre • Branch • Hazzard • McPherson • Smith • Parmallee • Foster • Iddings • Sweetland • Donnelly • Roberts • Little • Rider • Little • Ewing • Pittser • Wilton • Holcomb • Gillman • Blackburn • Hayes • Parseghian • Pont • Schembechler • Mallory • Crum • Reed • Rose • Walker • Hoeppner• Montgomery
Northwestern Wildcats Head Football Coaches
Ames • Noyes • Ewing • Culver • Van Doozer • Bannard • Hollister • McCornack • Johnson • Horr • Hammett • Grady • Murphy • Bachman • McDevitt • Thistlethwaite • Hanley • Waldorf • Voigts • Saban • Parseghian • Agase • Pont • Venturi • Green • Peay • Barnett • Walker • Fitzgerald
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