Release: 11/13/08
EVANSTON, ILL. - On Monday, October 6, the American Football Coaches Foundation (AFCF) along with Tammy Walker (the widow of former Northwestern Head Coach Randy Walker) presented a check in the amount of $10,000 to Northwestern Head Football Coach, Pat Fitzgerald. The funds will go to support the Randy Walker Fund.
In July 2006, the AFCF created the Power of Influence Golf Outing fundraising initiative. The inaugural golf outing was held in the Chicago suburb of Long Grove, Illinois. Northwestern Head Coach Randy Walker embraced this event and was actively involved in its planning until his untimely death just weeks before the event.
As a tribute to Coach Walker, Grant Teaff, Executive Director of the American Football Coaches Foundation renamed the event to bear Coach Walker's name. "Randy Walker was the epitome of what a collegiate coach should be. Extremely knowledgeable about the game while caring deeply about the well-being and the future of his student-athletes," says Teaff.
Coach Fitzgerald and the Northwestern football coaching staff have followed Coach Walker's lead by actively supporting and participating in the golf outing each year. "We can't thank the AFCF enough for first, honoring a great coach like Randy Walker by naming their golf event after him, and second, for their tremendous generosity and contributions to the Walker Fund," Fitzgerald said.
The Walker Fund helps support Northwestern Football but moreover, supports an intern staff position in the football program. "Coach Walker always wanted to give back and help young people in our profession," added Fitzgerald.
The golf outing has been supported by many other coaches through donations of items for the auction held at the reception following golf. The past two years have seen Jim Tressel of Ohio State University and Rich Rodriguez from Michigan attend the event and provide a keynote address at the reception.
The 2009 Randy Walker Power of Influence Golf Outing will be held on Monday, June 29, at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois.
