A native of Troy, Ohio, Randy graduated from Troy High School in 1972 and participated in football as a halfback & defensive back and track earning three varsity letters in each sport. Randy played in the Troy-Piqua rivalry his sophomore, junior and senior years winning all three years with scores of 22-6, 56-2 and 36-6. He was selected to the 1st Team All-WOL his junior and senior year and selected Honor Mention All-Ohio his senior year. After graduated from Troy he attended Miami University on a football scholarship where earned his B.A. in social studies education and, in 1981, earned his master’s degree in education administration.

In his three years at Miami University the team went 32-1-1 and was ranked in the top 15 all three years and won the Mid-American Conference all three years. Miami also went to the Tangerine Bowl where they defeated Florida in 1973, and South Carolina in 1975. During his senior year, Walker was named the team’s most valuable player and finished his career at Miami with 1757 rushing yards. For all his accomplishment, he was inducted into the Miami University Hall of Fame in 1992.

In 1976, Randy was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals as a running back in the 13th round.

Randy served as an Assistant Football coach at Miami in 1976 & 1977. He was also an assistant at North Carolina State from 1978-1987 before becoming an assistant at Northwestern in 1988. Randy left Northwestern to become the head football coach at Miami University in 1990 and was there until 1998, winning 59 games. He then became the head football coach at Northwestern University from 1999 to 2005, winning 37 games, a Big Ten Co-Championship in 2000 with appearances in the Alamo Bowl in 2000, Motor City Bowl in 2003 and the Sun Bowl in 2005. He compiled a career college football record of 96 wins and 81 losses and 5 ties as a head coach.