[NU Sports] Is this the Walker legacy? (fwd)

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> > Randy Walker's "legacy" is that his Northwestern
> teams have never won four

Well, we appear to have covered the Randy Walker
spectrum in the last month are now back at ASU "fire
the bum" status?:)

> > He has the best winning percentage of any football
> coach at Northwestern
> > since Ara Parseghian. 
> 
> And a cumulative record that would probably get him
> fired at over half of
> the schools in the conference.

But you need to take everything in context. A 10-2
mark may get you fired at Nebraska but nominated for
Sainthood at 90% of the other schools.

Flip it around - if you swapped Walker and Carr,
Walker would probably win as many games as Carr with
Michigan's talent (especially opening up their
offensive game to use those talented wideouts) ... but
would Carr have won as many games at NU as Walker?

> > He is on the verge of winning 6 games in a season
> for the third straight
> > year, something the Cats have done exactly once in
> their 124 year history.
> 
> Let's not count that chicken quite yet.  I still
> think they could/should win 

I agree on not counting the chickens ... but IF we can
get to 6 wins for the third straight year, that is a
BIG step for consistency in the program. You build a
program by gradually increasing the level of
expectations and making the 6-win mark for three
straight years would do that. Is it the brilliant
flash Barnett was in 95 and 96? No. But it's also not
a flash in the pan when you do it consistently.

> This wasn't a BAD game (ASU was), it just wasn't a
> very good one, especially 
> after all the buildup on ESPN.  

Exactly - heartbreaking because we had the golden
apple there, set on a prime time table for us by ESPN,
and couldn't grasp it. (Thank goodness ASU wasn't on
TV:) )

> However, it may still turn out to be good for
> recruiting.  The post-Basanez 
> era is coming, and there were probably high school
> players watching tonight's 

I can tell from walking on the field pregame with the
NUMBalums that the high school recruits on the field
were looking around at the atmosphere -- as I was --
with a smile. To see the student section filled to the
rafters and screaming their heads off 30 minutes
before kickoff was AWESOME!

> > He runs a clean program.
> 
> Big deal, every coach is supposed to do that, and

Maybe it is expected, but is it really something most
do? (I include graduating players in the "clean
program" definition). Maybe in Big Ten land where you
have great academic institutions, but certainly not
all over (I'm looking at you, "probation rotation"
SEC!).

And even if most do, you still have to commend a coach
for that and not dismiss a clean, strong
graduation-rate program with a "so what"!!!!!!!

> > He has won a Big Ten Title.
> 
> Big deal, so has nearly every other team in the
> conference in the last

Again, what you're saying may be true (all but IU and
Minnesota) ... but still, IT **IS** A BIG DEAL TO WIN
A BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP! Especially when the number of
coaches who have done so at the school you coach can
be counted on one hand.

> > He has taken the Cats to two of the five bowl
> games in the school's history.
> 
> And lost both games.

As did Saint Gary. But a bowl trip involves much more
with extra practices, exposure, etc.

> > He is well-respected by his fellow coaches in the
> Big Ten.
> 
> That never keeps a coach from getting fired, does
> it?

:) - if that were the case, Bill Mallory may still
have a job. Come to think of it, how did that work out
for IU?

> > He appears to be well-respected by his players.
> 
> I did not get that impression in the two seasons
> following Wheeler's death.
> If that's changed, that's very good news, if it
> stays that way.  

I didn't see that after Wheeler as well (the 2001
collapse of a season was clearly a loss of the team,
IMO) ... but I do think that his players have rallied
around him the last couple seasons and really buy into
that "us against the world" mentality Walker has.

I agree though that the Iowa game will be BIG in
defining the season. Hopefully we can bounce back (or
at least find that offensive playbook we were using
prior to last night ... the one at MSU, Purdue, vs.
UW, etc.).

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


	
		
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