Dick Walker (American football)
{{Short description|American football player and coach (1933–2013)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Dick Walker
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| position = Center, linebacker
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|1|21}}
| birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = January 14, 2013 (aged 79)
| death_place = Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
| high_school = Cleveland (OH) East
| college = John Carroll
| pastcoaching =
- Watterson HS (1960–1966)
Head coach - Toledo (1967–1968)
Assistant coach - Navy (1969)
Assistant coach - Ohio State (1969–1976)
Defensive backs coach - New England Patriots (1977)
Defensive backs coach - Pittsburgh Steelers (1978–1981)
Defensive backs coach - Montreal Concordes (1982)
Defensive secondary coach - Chicago Blitz (1983)
Defensive backs coach - Meadowcreek HS (1999–2001)
Head coach
| highlights =
- 2× Super Bowl champion (XIII, XIV)
- John Carroll University Hall of Fame (2006)
| pfrcoach =
}}
Richard Walker (January 21, 1933 – January 15, 2013) was an American football coach and player. He has worked at the professional, college and high school levels. He coached on two Super Bowl-winning teams with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).{{cite web |title=Richard L. Walker |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?n=richard-l-walker&pid=162442440 |publisher=The Columbus Dispatch |access-date=18 January 2021}}
Early life
Walker is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Cleveland's East High School, where he played football.{{cite news|last=Sheeley|first=Glenn|title=Steelers Hire Aide, Promote Coaches|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5oAqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EVgEAAAAIBAJ&dq=dick-walker&pg=3643%2C2974402|accessdate=December 21, 2011|newspaper=Pittsburgh Press|date=March 8, 1978|page=C-19}} Walker played college football at John Carroll University in nearby University Heights, Ohio. He played four years (three as a starter) at center and linebacker for the Blue Streaks, including playing all 60 minutes of every game in his junior and senior seasons. He was a three-time letterman. He graduated from John Carrol University in 1955.{{cite web |title=Dick Walker bio |url=http://www.jcusports.com/hof.aspx?hof=322 |publisher=John Carroll University Athletics |accessdate=December 21, 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227033639/http://www.jcusports.com/hof.aspx |archivedate=February 27, 2010 |url-status=live }}
Coaching career
Walker has spent most of his life coaching football. In the early 1960s, he compiled a record of 51–11–3 as head coach at Bishop Watterson High School in Columbus, Ohio. He got his first college coaching job in 1967 mentoring defensive backs at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. After two seasons at Toledo, he spent a year coaching at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
The New England Patriots gave Walker his first professional football opportunity as their defensive backs coach in 1977. The following season, Walker took a similar position with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Walker was on the staff of two Pittsburgh teams which won Super Bowls, in {{Steelers season|1978}} and {{Steelers season|1979}}. He left the Steelers after the 1981 season.
Walker later coached with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Concordes{{cite news|title=Alouettes complete coaching staff|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dqVOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OvsDAAAAIBAJ&dq=dick-walker%20montreal&pg=3472%2C988011|accessdate=December 21, 2011|newspaper=The Ledger|agency=AP|page=5D}} the short-lived United States Football League's Chicago Blitz{{cite news|title=Extra Points|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ojM0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=BmAEAAAAIBAJ&dq=dick-walker%20montreal%20-buyers&pg=3911%2C4934216|accessdate=December 21, 2011|newspaper=Pittsburgh Press|date=November 11, 1982|page=C-2}} and at various high schools in Georgia and Las Vegas.
Honors
References
{{reflist|40em}}
{{Super Bowl XIII}}
{{Super Bowl XIV}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Dick}}
Category:American football centers
Category:John Carroll Blue Streaks football players
Category:Montreal Alouettes coaches
Category:Navy Midshipmen football coaches
Category:Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches
Category:Pittsburgh Steelers coaches
Category:Toledo Rockets football coaches
Category:High school football coaches in Ohio
Category:Chicago Blitz coaches
Category:Pittsburgh Steelers players
Category:High school football coaches in Georgia (U.S. state)