Northwestern head coach Randy Walker rarely shows his emotions on the football field – except when he’s smooching his dog.
With each layer of slobber deposited on his master’s lips, Magic, Walker’s 2 1/2-year-old mutt, breaks through the veteran coach’s trademark stoicism.
Walker merely raised his arms above his head following his team’s miraculous last-second victory over Michigan State two weeks ago. But when Magic ran up to him after a practice last week, Walker interrupted a reporter’s question, smiled and braced for Magic’s best attempt at a form tackle.
“Hey there, baby,” Walker cooed in a voice best suited to coax a roomful of kindergartners to color between the lines, petting Magic as he pressed his paws into the coach’s chest.
“You’re a good boy.”
And just as rigorous drills have become a staple at NU’s practice since Walker came on board, so has Magic, who each day is led to the field by Walker’s wife, Tammy.
A thick band of purple pride surrounding his neck, Magic first licks the wives, girlfriends and children of coaches and players who gather on the sidelines near the end of practice.
As the team huddles for Walker’s final words of wisdom, Magic seems to sense his moment is near. Then, like a linebacker anticipating the snap count, Magic stands at Tammy’s side and waits intensely for the leash to come off.
Finally, mercifully, the purple leash is removed and Magic bounds aimlessly onto the field, dodging cleats and sweaty bodies as he spastically sprints and frantically circles.
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Walker, who previously coached at Miami (Ohio), got the top job at NU in January 1999. Prior to leaving Ohio, the Walkers were forced to put their 15-year-old (that’s 105 in doggie years) schnauzer to sleep.
Soon after arriving in Evanston, they began looking for a new dog. Their search led them to the Community Animal Rescue Effort at the Evanston Animal Shelter. They adopted Magic, who had been abandoned in downtown Evanston, Tammy Walker said.
With their two children in college, Magic became something of a surrogate child for the Walkers. He also has a therapeutic value — walking sessions during lunch have become part of Coach Walker’s daily routine.
“There aren’t many things I unwind with,” Walker said. “[At lunch] we walk around the lake a little, and I kind of ‘get right.’ He doesn’t complain at me or yell at me.”
Magic’s unabashed loyalty is what has made Walker a dog lover since his childhood.
“Win or lose, he’s my buddy,” he said.
Walker even relaxes his firm commitment to discipline when it comes to his victory-blind buddy.
“He’s quite spoiled by coach,” Tammy Walker said. “He lets him jump on him, he lets him sleep with him; he even lets him lick his ice cream bowl.”
While some NU players are fond of Magic and his regular visits at practice, those who bother to form opinions do not consider the dog a lucky charm.
“What do you want me to say?” asked linebacker Kevin Bentley. “He comes to every practice.”
Said backup quarterback Matt Danielson: “He’s just another part of the team.”
But with NU’s abundance of thrilling, last-second victories and its surprising co-Big Ten Championship of 2000, no one goes so far as to rule out the power of the team’s unofficial mascot.
“Coach Walker says he calls him Magic for a reason,” Bentley said.
