In Loving Memory Of Randy Walker: Northwestern Vs. Miami ( Ohio )

If anyone was watching the Big Ten Network prior to the Northwestern vs. Miami (Ohio ) game, they should have been easily able to see the emotions of the late head coach Randy Walker's widow Tammy Walker and Pat Fitzgerald, who was an assistant coach on Walker's staff before taking the head coaching job. The connection between the Walker family, Fitzgerald and Miami of Ohio is a story made for Hollywood.

Randy and Tammy Walker's relationship goes all the way back to their high school days at Troy High School in Troy, Ohio. Randy was a standout for the Troy Trojans football team and after a fantastic senior season, he had received offers from various universities around the country. But he decided to follow his high school sweetheart and attend Miami of Ohio located in Oxford, Ohio just an hour and a half away from Troy.

Walker was a fullback and enjoyed success in many ways as the Redhawks compiled a 32-1-1 record during his three seasons. The Redhawks were ranked as high as No. 10, which happened during the 1974 campaign. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1976 but went on to be an assistant coach at Miami of Ohio.

After his tenure as the assistant coach at Miami of Ohio, he went on to coach at two different schools. At North Carolina he was the running backs coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. Walker spent time as running backs coach at, you guessed it, Northwestern.

Finally, Walker was the 30th head coach in Miami (Ohio) history from 1990-1998 and finished with a 59-35-5 record. He lead the Redhawks to impressive wins over ranked opponents throughout his time but never won a MAC championship.

He then took the head coaching job at Northwestern in 1999. He compiled a 37-46 record as the Wildcats head coach and won a share of the Big Ten Championship in 2000 and went to the Alamo Bowl, Motor City Bowl, and Sun Bowl while there.

After an impressive 7-5 campaign and a Sun Bowl appearance versus UCLA, the Northwestern community was stunned to hear on June 29, 2006 that Walker died. He apparently died from a heart attack at the age of 52. Fitzgerald took over as the youngest head coach in the NCAA at the time.The Wildcats started the game on the road. Amazingly, the game was against Miami of Ohio. The Wildcats won the game 21-3.

This past week the Wildcats won 16-6 over the Redhawks. Tammy Walker attends every home Northwestern football game and this was obviously one that she had mixed feelings about. Memories of Randy came back. She has not dwelled on those feelings. Instead she has praised God for the joy she experienced.

The reason why I wrote this is that I have been a Wildcat fan since I was born. I am an oddball in my family living in Iowa and not liking Iowa State or Iowa. Instead, my heart lies with Northwestern. On the day Randy Walker died, my heart stopped for a second. The Wildcats lost not only a fantastic coach but a great man who made boys into men. So the next time the Wildcats face the Redhawks, remember that it is more than a game.