As he showed minutes after Northwestern’s 61-23 dismantling of Illinois, head coach Randy Walker can transform a room as fast as he transformed his football team.
Breaking in his Big Ten championship hat in the postgame news conference, Walker made several calm, obligatory comments before recalling his first encounter with his team after taking the job in January, 1999.
Suddenly it was winter, not fall. The media room was a practice field and reporters were transformed into football players who had recently completed a subpar workout — and Walker was livid.
“A 40-yard sprint isn’t 38 1/2 and when a coach says run 10 yards, that means 10 yards,” Walker bellowed as he scanned the room with an icy glare. “You’re going to start learning how to finish because I don’t see many of you finishing.”
But it was a message that failed to sink in by kickoff of the 1999 season. The Wildcats sputtered to a dismal 3-8 record and were annihilated 79-26 in fourth-quarter scoring. During the offseason, 14 players left the team and Walker’s depleted troops reported for winter conditioning seeking guidance — and a miracle.
Walker provided just that with the Winning Edge, a conditioning program that shuffles players through five brutal stations designed to improve agility, speed and, most importantly, endurance. Though several exercises were tailored for specific positions, every NU player ran the gauntlet three times a week while Walker and his staff barked at them like drill sergeants.
But after each torture session, Walker consoled his panting players, assuring them there was purpose to the punishment. Though no one could foresee an overtime upset, Victory Right and a Sam Simmons slant to win the Game of the Year, Walker convinced the team that the training would produce results six months down the road.
“At times I think we were looking around thinking, are you serious? You really want us to do this?” quarterback Zak Kustok said. “But he really had a plan and a purpose behind it all and as you can see, all the hard work that we’ve done has paid off. We’ve been behind each other, trusting each other, trusting the coaches and I think that’s the biggest reason for the turnaround this year.”
Added defensive end Conrad Emmerich: “We were like, it’s got to be helping, it’s got to be doing something right. During the workouts he was really demanding a lot from us, but afterwards he was like, ‘Hey, I see progress and I see stuff coming along.’ That helped us fight harder each day.”
Though Walker insisted NU was “bigger, stronger and faster” heading into this season, the rebound from 1999 was astounding nonetheless. The Cats flipped their record to finish at 8-3, scored five times as many fourth-quarter points (132) and set a school record for total points with 424, a colossal leap from last season’s 141.
Despite the progress, the Cats occasionally relapsed into 1999 form as they were stomped by Texas Christian and Purdue and “threw away” a chance to play in the Rose Bowl with a loss to mediocre Iowa. And without dramatic comeback victories over Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, NU’s improvement would appear minimal.
“There’s a fine line between 3-8 and 8-3, quote me, I say it all the time,” Walker said following the Illinois game. “A fine line — but how much work, how much investment, how much chemistry coming together? Immeasurable. Mind-boggling.
“That was the same football team out there Saturday that went 3-8 a year ago.”
While the rigorous winter and spring practices improved team fitness and strength, Walker and his players attributed the first signs of a rebound to what took place in NU’s locker room after its 29-7 loss to Illinois in the 1999 season finale. Walker spoke, Kustok spoke, cornerback Harold Blackmon spoke, all preaching the same idea — making a pact to end the losing.
“I, for one, refuse to accept anything that resembles this again,” Walker said after last season’s Illinois game.
Walker demanded the same mentality from his team, yet not every player could oblige. Several athletes recruited by former NU coach Gary Barnett didn’t mesh with Walker’s breakneck style of play and opted to quit the program in the offseason. Among those who left, for various reasons, were quarterback Nick Kreinbrink, wideout Rob Johnson, guard Wayne Lucier and tailback Brian Marshall.
Though he had not expected the defections, Walker was not going to compromise his system.
“I didn’t want them to (leave), but we’re not going to start taking votes here,” he said. “It isn’t a democracy, never has been, never will be. We need to all get in the boat, get on the same page and get it done, and when we finally do that, it’s got a chance.”
While Walker was criticized for the departures, they turned out to be integral in NU’s drive to success. With a team ready to “buy-in” to Walker’s philosophy, the Cats bonded under their leader.
“I thought he was going about it the right way,” NU athletic director Rick Taylor said. “He cranked things up a notch and if you take a look at it now, the results speak for themselves.”
“There is a certain personality type that coach Walker looks for,” Emmerich said. “You can be an unbelievable athlete and have a lackadaisical attitude and you won’t succeed under him — that’s just the way it is.”
Though both Walker and Barnett brought Big Ten titles to Evanston, the difference between Barnett’s player-friendly approach and Walker’s authoritarian style was, as Emmerich put it, “like living in Alaska and then moving to Florida.”
Steve Schnur, who started at quarterback for Barnett on NU’s 1995 Rose Bowl team, said parallels between the two coaches are few.
“It’s a different type of turnaround, just like Walker’s a different type of coach,” Schnur said. “He’s done an amazing job, maybe in a different way than Barnett, but accomplishing the same sort of thing, and that is developing a real strong team chemistry and nucleus of positive-attitude players.”
Schnur pointed out that the shock value of this season’s success cannot rival what occurred five years ago. Entering the 1995 season the team had endured 23 consecutive losing seasons and Barnett held a paltry 8-25-1 coaching record in three years at NU.
Conversely, Walker left Miami (Ohio) as the winningest coach in school history, ahead of such greats as Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes and Paul Brown. In nine seasons in Oxford, Walker steered his alma mater to a 59-35-5 record and ironically handed NU its only regular-season defeat in 1995 with a 30-28 upset.
For Miami Athletic Director Joel Maturi, Walker’s success this season was not as surprising as NU’s poor showing in 1999. Maturi said he was immediately drawn to Walker’s vision and knew that with the right personnel, Walker would win at NU.
“You’re in the foxhole together with coach Walker and I think he brings out that kind of mentality,” Maturi said. “You do it a little bit out of fear, a little bit out of pride and a little bit out of respect and eventually you buy into it.
“There are no shortcuts with him, you don’t do it halfway, you do it only full-go all the time. That’s the way he was brought up, that’s the way he played and that’s always the way he’s coached.”
Maturi praised Walker’s versatility in employing a new spread offense in 2000 that ranks third nationally in total yardage. Though he said Walker will always be “more Woody Hayes than Joe Tiller,” Maturi said his willingness to experiment is one of his great strengths.
With his success in 2000, Walker became a candidate for several head coaching jobs, such as North Carolina, Alabama and Southern California. But Walker has shown no interest in pursuing other jobs and agreed Friday to a three-year contract extension with NU through 2007.
“I’m thrilled we were able to agree on an extension,” Walker said in a statement. “This assures my family, our coaches and our players that we’ll be at Northwestern for the long term.”
Unsatisfied with just a share of the conference title, Walker has made clear just what his long-term goals are. Two days after the Illin
ois win, at another news conference, Walker lowered his voice and stated his primary goal at NU — winning a national title.
As reporters held back their laughter, Walker scanned the room, daring someone to challenge him.
“You’re shooting for the national championship game, if you’re not, why are you playing Division I?” Walker said. “First and foremost, we want to get our program to where no one chuckles when I say that. Maybe I’m nuts, but that’s where we want to go.”
It sounds improbable and Walker might be crazy, but another goal is on the table — don’t bet against him.
