Probably because for the first 3-4 years he was coaching a team short on scholarship players due to NCAA sanctions, and because his team practiced on a grass parking lot. He still had a winning record in his third year. It would be interesting to see what would have happened to ISU football if Walden had taken the Arizona job offer after his third year at ISU.
Gene Smith nearly spent the ISU AD into bankruptcy for McCarney, and it took DM six years to get a winning record. Max Urich, the AD while Walden was coaching, was never going to spend like that. ISU baseball (and to a lesser extend, men's gymnastics, and men's tennis) eventually paid the price.
Why is Walden any worse than Rhoads? They have very similar records, and Rhoads had much better facilities and AD to work with.
Your last questions is interesting. They were both bad and both good at the same things. They both could XO a great game plan for a one game situation, but neither one of them saw the big picture about growing a program like Majors, Bruce and Campbell. Mac was more of a program builder but not what I would call an XO guy. BTW, one of the reasons I did not like Paul Rhoads (as a HC not as a man) was that I saw the similarities with Walden from when I was in school.
Meanwhile, Campbell is very similar to Bruce. Bruce built on Majors' foundation, and ISU became a solid program during his tenure. Unfortunately, losing Bruce set ISU back two decades with the multiple bad hires that followed. I sure like where ISU is now, and I believe that Matt Campbell can and will take ISU to places they have not been before (10 wins, Big Xii Championship Game and / or NY6 Bowls). Build it, and they will come! ISU has built it (stadium, facility, etc. upgrades), and they are coming!
Looking forward to Saturday. I have always thought that Homecoming was a hokey event, but after 24 years away and finally back in Iowa, I am taking this Homecoming personally! I've been to all of the home games (even with the bad weather). I mention this, as I became "soft" living in other parts of the country and started avoiding foul weather games. Now, that I am back home in Iowa, I will not miss any games due to weather just like it was when I lived here the first time from 1989-95.
Let's Go State!