Randy Walker
Randy Walker went 95–82–5 on the field as a head coach, 1990–2005, at Miami (OH) and Northwestern; 96–81–5 officially, with 1994 (6–4–1) after forfeits. Share
- Record
- 96–81–5 official; 95–82–5 on the field
- Seasons
- 16
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1998 10–1
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Miami (OH) | 5–5–1 | |||
| 1991 | Miami (OH) | 6–4–1 | |||
| 1992 | Miami (OH) | 6–4–1 | |||
| 1993 | Miami (OH) | 4–7 | |||
| 1994 | Miami (OH) | 5–5–1 (6–4–1 official) | |||
| 1995 | Miami (OH) | 8–2–1 | |||
| 1996 | Miami (OH) | 6–5 | |||
| 1997 | Miami (OH) | 8–3 | |||
| 1998 | Miami (OH) | 10–1 | |||
| 1999 | Northwestern | 3–8 | |||
| 2000 | Northwestern | 8–4 | Alamo Bowl L | ||
| 2001 | Northwestern | 4–7 | |||
| 2002 | Northwestern | 3–9 | |||
| 2003 | Northwestern | 6–7 | Motor City Bowl L | ||
| 2004 | Northwestern | 6–6 | |||
| 2005 | Northwestern | 7–5 | Sun Bowl L |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 38 | 12–26 | 32% |
| Against top-10 teams | 12 | 2–10 | 17% |
| Against rivals | 39 | 24–14–1 | 63% |
| Conference games | 129 | 70–56–3 | 55% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 73 | 38–30–5 | 55% |
| At home | 83 | 51–30–2 | 63% |
| On the road | 96 | 44–49–3 | 47% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 81 | 60–20–1 | 75% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 101 | 35–62–4 | 37% |
His own 182 games on file, 1990–2005, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Blackney 1991–1998 | 2–6 | Bowling Green | 8 | |
| Gary Pinkel 1991–1998 | 3–3–1 | Toledo | 7 | |
| Joe Tiller 1999–2005 | 2–5 | Purdue | 7 | |
| Ron Turner 1999–2004 | 3–3 | Illinois | 6 | |
| Glen Mason 1999–2004 | 2–4 | Minnesota | 6 | |
| Lloyd Carr 1995–2005 | 1–5 | Michigan | 6 | |
| Carl Franks 1999–2003 | 5–0 | Duke | 5 | |
| Tom Lichtenberg 1990–1994 | 4–1 | Ohio | 5 | |
| Paul Schudel 1990–1994 | 3–2 | Ball State | 5 | |
| Barry Alvarez 1999–2005 | 3–2 | Wisconsin | 5 |
Randy Walker’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Bowling Greenseries | 11 | 2–8–1 |
| Ohioseries | 10 | 9–1 |
| Kent Stateseries | 9 | 9–0 |
| Ball Stateseries | 9 | 6–3 |
| Cincinnatiseries | 9 | 5–3–1 |
| Indianaseries | 9 | 4–5 |
| Toledoseries | 8 | 3–4–1 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 7 | 6–1 |
Coaching tree
Assistants who became head coaches
- Kevin WilsonIndiana, Tulsa
- Pat NarduzziPittsburgh
- Shawn WatsonWofford, Southern Illinois
- Terry HoeppnerMiami (OH), Indiana
- Don TreadwellMichigan State, Miami (OH), Arkansas–Pine Bluff
- Howard FegginsSt. Augustine’s
- Jeff GenykEastern Michigan
- Mike DunbarCentral Washington, Northern Iowa
- Pat FitzgeraldNorthwestern, Michigan State
- Greg ColbyMillersville
- Garrick McGeeUAB
Coached under him, later head coaches (11)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Wilson | Miami (OH), 1990–91: offensive line coach; 1992–97: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach; 1998: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Northwestern, 1999–2000: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2001: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Indiana, Tulsa | |
| Pat Narduzzi | Miami (OH), 1990–91: graduate assistant; 1992: wide receivers coach | Pittsburgh | |
| Shawn Watson | Miami (OH), 1990–91: wide receivers coach; 1992–93: quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator | Wofford, Southern Illinois | |
| Terry Hoeppner | Miami (OH), 1990–92: linebackers coach; 1993–98: assistant head coach | Miami (OH), Indiana | |
| Don Treadwell | Miami (OH), 1992–93: running backs and wide receivers coach | Michigan State, Miami (OH), Arkansas–Pine Bluff | |
| Howard Feggins | Miami (OH), 1997–98: wide receivers coach; Northwestern, 1999–2004: wide receivers coach | St. Augustine’s | |
| Jeff Genyk | Northwestern, 1999–2003: special teams and running backs coach | Eastern Michigan | |
| Mike Dunbar | Northwestern, 2001: tight ends coach, h-backs and special teams coach; 2002–05: offensive coordinator | Central Washington, Northern Iowa | |
| Pat Fitzgerald | Northwestern, 2001: defensive backs coach; 2002–03: linebackers coach; 2004–05: linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator | Northwestern, Michigan State | |
| Greg Colby | Northwestern, 2002–05: defensive coordinator | Millersville | |
| Garrick McGee | Northwestern, 2004–05: wide receivers coach | UAB |
Other assistants under him (3)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Carras | Miami (OH), 1990–94: defensive coordinator | |
| Kevin Johns | Northwestern, 1999–2001: graduate assistant; 2004–05: running backs coach | |
| Jim O’Neil | Northwestern, 2003–04: graduate assistant |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Walker’s teams went for it on 17% of fourth downs and on 24% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 52% of plays and took 20.3 seconds a play, 2004–2005.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 12 g | 17 of 112 15% | 19% | 50% | 19.6 | +0.02 | |
| 2005 12 g | 18 of 94 19% | 29% | 54% | 21.1 | +0.07 | |
| All 24 g | 35 of 206 17% | 24% | 52% | 20.3 | +0.04 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.