[NU Sports] You saw it coming...

[BSchooler at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/28/2004 9:31:16 AM Central Standard Time, 
rstetson at capps-assoc.com writes:

I haven't posted to this list in nearly a year, but Roy Lamberton's recent 
post requires a response. Roy wrote:

> First off, all the talk about RW leaving is just idle talk - Randy has 
> given no
> indication that he plans to leave and Mark Murphy has given no indication in
> public that he is displeased with the football team's performance under 
> Walker.
> Read the WGN postgame interviews on Purple Reign...

I challenge Roy or anyone else to find any independent verification outside 
Randy Walker's own quotes in the newspaper that corroborate any 
serious/legitimate interest from anyone else in hiring Randy Walker away from Northwestern. 
If there is such corroboration, I will publicly apologize on this List Serve. 
But I won't have to publicly apologize because this is a Randy Walker 
fabrication. BTW, this isn't the first time RW has pulled this stunt since he has been 
at Northwestern. A couple years ago, he went to the newspapers to let us know 
about alleged job offers. Let me ask all of you something. If there was 
serious/legitimate interest from another school in hiring Randy Walker, would he 
blab about it to the Chicago papers? Of course not. Randy Walker's self-promoting 
claims of job offers/feelers in the Chicago papers say more about his 
character, or lack thereof, than they do about the demand for his services as a 
coach. This was nothing more than a cheap, transparent attempt by Randy Walker to 
rally support for himself. If I were Mark Murphy, I'd seriously consider firing 
Randy Walker for having gone to the Chicago papers about job offers/feelers 
whether legitimate or not.


> 
> Anyway, there are few coaches out there who could actually handle all of the
> higher standards imposed by NU on its recruiting, etc. Like him or not, 
> Walker
> does a good job with what he can get.

If Randy Walker isn't one of the "few coaches out there who could actually 
handle all of the higher standards imposed by NU on its recruiting", then he 
should be fired. However, I don't believe RW falls into this category. 
Northwestern's "higher standards" is a red herring. There are plenty of highly regarded 
recruits who could get admitted to Northwestern, would want to matriculate at 
Northwestern and play Big Ten football at one of the nation's premier 
universities. No, the main problem with recruiting is that Randy Walker is a lousy 
recruiter. He's a stubborn bully and potential recruits can see that he hasn't 
done a "good job with what he can get".

> 
> Many penalties come from kids who are trying harder than they can normally
> perform. They over reach, and do something that draws the flag. NU has that
> problem.

Perhaps. But what Coach Roy has described are kids who are playing without 
discipline. One of the most important responsibilities of a Head Coach is to get 
his players to perform within their capabilities. For six years under Randy 
Walker, we've seen an inordinate number of stupid penalties. That's a lack of 
discipline which is a direct result of poor coaching. For crying out loud; 
Northwestern has earned a reputation as a dirty team under Randy Walker. And no, I 
don't attribute the stupid penalties to over aggressiveness, either.

> 
> What was apparent last night was our lack of sheer speed. College football 
> has
> turned into a faster, stronger sport and NU is racing to catch up. 
> Unfortunately
> there are just not enough speed demons out there with the ability to get 
> into
> NU.
> 

First of all, Northwestern has improved overall team speed to the point where 
we are at least average. Sure, we could use faster players. But who couldn't? 
Lack of speed didn't seem to be an insurmountable problem against Ohio State 
- the fastest team in the Big Ten. No, the real problem is poor coaching and 
ineffectual schemes; not lack of speed. Good coaches design schemes that allow 
players to be successful within their capabilities. Our defensive and 
offensive game plans against Hawaii were pathetic. More troubling, however, is Roy's 
contention that "there are just not enough speed demons out there with the 
ability to get into NU". Is the implication that fast players are not as 
intelligent as slow players? Or is the implication that fast players are Black players 
of whom there are "not enough . . . out there with the ability to get into 
NU". If it's the latter, I dispute this implication. There are plenty of fast 
African American student athletes out there. If there aren't enough of them at 
Northwestern, the problem is Randy Walker's recruiting. If Randy Walker can't 
convince qualified black student athletes to attend Northwestern, we need to 
replace him with a coach who can.

Bob Schooler