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2009 Ohio State football
Walker leaves legacy of caring
By Sean McClelland, Staff Writer
More than merely leading people, he inspired and cared about them.
That's how friends remembered Northwestern University football coach Randy Walker, who died Thursday night of an apparent heart attack at age 52.
"He was a very charismatic person," said former Miami University teammate Rob Carpenter. "He made an impression on everybody he came across, from officials to the kids he recruited."
A Troy native, Walker was a running back on Miami teams that lost one game in three seasons in the mid-'70s. He coached Miami for nine seasons before being hired at Northwestern in 1999.
"We are shocked and saddened," said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany. "Randy personified the values of intercollegiate athletics — he was positive, resilient and honest."
Walker built his reputation at Miami, becoming its all-time winningest coach. Current MU coach Shane Montgomery said the school known as the "Cradle of Coaches" lost one of its "finest ambassadors."
At Northwestern, Walker was the first coach to have four seasons with at least six wins since C.M. Hollister in 1899-1902.
He is survived by his wife, Tamara, and two children, Abbey, 28, and Jamie, 25, a football recruiting assistant at Northwestern.
"This truly is hard to believe," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "Randy was such a great person and such a good influence on the game of football."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-
2408 or smcclelland@DaytonDaily
News.com
