[NU Sports] OSU game highlighted Randy Walker's shortcomings

[John A. DeGroat]

The Ohio State fiasco highlighted all of Randy Walker's many short 
comings including no defense and no kicking game.  As the game 
announcers over the past several seasons plus have said, NU has an 
offense, some linebackers and that is it.  NU's defense has been ranked 
in the bottom 100 ever since Walker showed up.  Add to that his failure 
as a recruiter.  Rivals.com's ranking of the recruiting classes for the 
past several years puts them at the near bottom of the Big Ten and in 
the 70 plus ranking nationally.  Add to that the number of players who 
have left or quit the program with eligibility left and it says a lot 
about Walker.  I attended the 2003 Miami of Ohio game and happened to be 
sitting next to the father of a current and past Miami player who told 
me that the Miami players didn't like Walker and were glad to be rid of him.

  

Not only has Walker never developed punters or kickers, he uses them in 
truly bizarre ways.  Squib kicking with no defense assuring good field 
positions for the other team makes no sense, neither does punting when 
NU is behind and in a short yardage situation near the end of a game.  
Walker has said that he doesn't know much about the kicking game and 
seems determined to prove it. 

If Walker is retained as the coach, NU will be relegated to mediocrity 
for as long as he is there.  Mark Murphy told the NY Alumni organization 
shortly after he arrived that his criteria for a successful football 
program would be NU in ranked bowl games on a regular basis, i.e. 
something better than the Motor City Bowl.

If we get stuck with Walker for the foreseeable future, then Murphy has 
to force Walker to hire a new defensive coordinator and hope that Pat 
Fitzgerald doesn't leave.  Chris Spielman, the ESPN color commentator, 
who knows something about playing linebacker has said several times that 
Pat Fitzgerald will be a great head coach at some point in time.  Murphy 
must take the dominant role in hiring defensive coaches otherwise Walker 
will play the old insecure corporate executive trick of never having 
someone working for you who could be a threat to taking your job.

  <>Mediocre teams means a half empty stadium unless a team with tough 
home game tickets plays at NU.  Combine that with the resulting low 
sales of memorabilia and poor bowl game opportunities and it translates 
into low revenues for both football and the other sports programs.  <>

Randy Walker has to go if NU expects to fix the current sshort comings 
and compete with Michigan, Ohio State and now Penn State for the Big Ten 
Championship on a regular basis or even show substantial improvement.  A 
lot of luck rather than anything else has helped Walker.

John DeGroat