Miami Remembers Randy Walker
Like all Miamians, we were deeply saddened to hear that Randy Walker died of a heart attack last night in Evanston, Illinois. While we didn't know Walker personally, we will always remember and respect him as the man who put Miami football back on the ascent and as a tough, principled man who did things the right way.
Walker was a standout running back at Troy High School, but, considered too small for the Big Ten, he joined the team at Miami. What Big Ten coaches missed - the sheer magnitude of Walker's will and work ethic - became Miami's gain, as Walker blossomed into an all-MAC performer and manned three different positions, including running back, during a stellar Miami career on what arguably were the best Miami teams ever.
Following graduation, Walker became an assistant coach, first at the Cradle, later with his mentor Dick Crum at UNC, and then at Northwestern. In 1990, he was hired to raise Miami football from the historic lows to which it has fallen.
And he did.
Randy Walker's Miami teams played like Randy Walker. They were tough, disciplined, smart, and never outworked on or off the field. He rebuilt the program with a series of talented running backs (Ty King, Deland McCullough, and Travis Prentice) and insisted on - no, demanded - stout, aggressive defenses.
When he finally left Oxford at the end of the 1998 season, he was the winningest coach in Miami's long and storied football history. More importantly, he left behind a foundation for success that endures to this day.
We've watched Walker's Northwestern teams with great interest over the years. He adapted his offensive style radically to continue to outthink and out-scheme opponents with superior athletic ability. And he endured a team tragedy that caused him to rethink - but not abandon - his never-ending commitment to outworking his opponents, too. As a result, Walker died last night as the second-winningest coach in Northwestern's history and as the only man to take NU to three bowl games. He was the only NU coach since 1902 to lead NU to at least four six-win seasons. We have no doubt that he has left as firm a foundation for continued success in Evanston as he did in Oxford.
Walker is survived by his wife, Tamara, and two children, Abbey, 28, and Jamie, 25. Our thoughts and prayers are with them today.
EDIT: New Orleans Saints strength coach Dan Dalrymple was good enough to stop by and share his thoughts on what Coach Walker has meant both to Miami and to an entire generation of young coaches. As Dan rightly notes, Coach Walker can be credited with reviving the "Cradle of Coaches" tradition, and that is yet another reason so many people will both celebrate his life and mourn his death.
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