This morning I was shocked and saddened to learn that Northwestern’s football coach Randy Walker died of a heart attack last night. He was only 52. I first heard about it on the radio, but within a couple hours I received a short email from the alumni association. Later in the afternoon they sent out another email that included a picture of Coach Walker and link to a forum where people can post condolences. Tastefully done.
Walker did a great job in picking up where Gary Barnett left off. Between the two of them, NU gained a measure of football respect that it hadn’t seen in two generations. I hope that the program has enough momentum to continue down that path, though I don’t envy the coach who has to replace him.