R.I.P. Randy Walker

It’s a sad day for my beloved alma mater.

I just found out that Randy Walker, Head Coach of the famed Northwestern Football Team (passed away this afternoon (evening in Evanston). Walker came to NU in 1999 from Miami of Ohio and just had his contract extended till 2011. Some of my best moments in college were at NU games. In fact, I'll never forget upsetting Michigan State my freshman year to go 4-0 and climb as high as #14 in the nation. That was my first collegiate football game as a student and it was an incredible feeling to know that I’d made the best decision of my life coming to Northwestern. My parents, who are Mich State alums, were at the game and we had bet a steak dinner at Pete Millers (very nice, very $$$). I also remember incredible NU games where we upset Wisconsin (ranked #14 at the time) my junior year and Ohio State my senior year when we rushed the field and tried, without success, to tear down the goalposts. I traveled to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl in 2003 and went to the Big House for the Michigan game in Ann Arbor my senior year. Last year Walker led the team to the Sun Bowl, where we lost to UCLA. Randy Walker did incredible things with our beleaguered football team, and the Northwestern community will miss him dearly.

At a school where die-hard sports fans are few and far between, I definitely considered myself one of them. When most of the student population was too hungover or studious to wake up at 8:00 AM to tailgate for an 11:00 AM game, I was always in someone's lawn, standing in the rain eating undercooked eggs, drinking keg beer and painting my face with a huge purple "N." I went to Northwestern games (football and basketball) early in the season before any students had arrived. While others wasted their time studying, I was indulging in the true American college experience and Randy Walker was a big part of that. He also lived right on campus and I would see him walking his dog in the area around my fraternity house.

Randy Walker was the first Wildcats coach to guide the team to four seasons with at least six wins since C.M. Hollister in 1899-1902. For a team, and school, that has a reputation for sucking a lot, Walker led Northwestern to a share of the Big Ten title in 2000, and then took us to 2 more bowl games, somewhat changing the perception of the Northwestern “Mildcats.”

Man, those were good times. Thanks, Randy.

Randy Walker (1952 - 2006)