Ten years ago Wednesday, the college football world was rocked by the unexpected and sudden loss of Northwestern coach Randy Walker.
The athletics department produced a touching video tribute to the man who suffered a heart attack at the age of 52, seven years into his tenure in Evanston.
Walker’s death unexpectedly thrust a young former Wildcats linebacker named Pat Fitzgerald into the head coach’s chair.
“I would prefer to be toasting to his longevity right now,” Fitzgerald says in the video.
Walker posted a 37-45 mark at Northwestern, including a surprising 8-4 campaign in 2000.
That followed a successful nine-year run at Miami University, the southwest Ohio school where he was a player.