Northwestern coach Walker dies of apparent heart attack
June 30, 2006

EVANSTON, Illinois (Ticker) - Northwestern football coach Randy Walker died Thursday night of an apparent heart attack. He was 52.

Walker, who joined the Wildcats in 1999 after nine years at Miami (Ohio), guided the team to a 7-5 record and a berth in the Sun Bowl this past season. He became the first coach in school history since C.M. Hollister (1899-1902) to register four seasons of at least six wins.

"Our deepest sympathies go out to his wife, Tammy, and his two children, Abbey and Jamie," Northwestern director of athletics Mark Murphy said. "This is a devastating loss, not only for our athletic program, but for the entire Northwestern community. Randy truly embraced Northwestern and its mission, and cared deeply for his student-athletes, both on and off the field."

A native of Troy, Ohio, Walker left Miami as the winningest coach in school history, posting a 59-35-5 mark with the RedHawks. He graduated from the university in 1976.

With Northwestern, Walker compiled a 37-46 overall record and led the team to a share of the Big Ten title and a trip to the Alamo Bowl in 2000. The first coach in school history to guide the team to three bowl games, Walker also helped earn the Wildcats a spot in the 2003 Motor City Bowl.

Walker, who received a contract extension through 2011 in April, ranks 27th on the NCAA's all-time wins list (96) for active Division I-A coaches with at least five years of experience.

Less than two years ago, Walker was hospitalized with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle commonly caused by a virus.

This is really sad. Best wishes to his family and the team.

Is this the really fat head coach? If it's who I am thinking of I really like that guy, I remember thinking he can't possibly stick around very long in the shape he was in.

No, he looked healthy as a horse to me. That's terrible. Might regards to NW and the Walkers.

Maybe it's miami-ohio that has the big coach. Who knows. It's sad for this guy though.

That's Kansas.

I can't believe he's dead. I have a friend who went to Northwestern and we were just talking the other day how impressive Walker has been as a coach. Their team is lots of fun to watch and Walker gets the most out of the players he recruits. I hate to take advantage of such a tragedy, but i'm gonna be betting against NU all year cause i don't see how the team can recover from such a shock