I was visiting a relatives house today and discovered a signed photo of Jim Walden. I am a somewhat younger Cyclone who grew up playing on the hillsides pretending to be Troy. So, I was a bit young to have any first hand memories or knowledge of the Walden Era. I do have some second hand knowledge of him but would like to become more educated on this time of Cyclone Football. I thoroughly realize that this was not a good era by any stretch and I have heard that he was far from a great coach like the one we have now. But I know that if I ask this question on here, I will likely get a wealth of information on Mr. Walden. TIA
Talk to me about Jim Walden
- Thread starter JM4CY
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He was handcuffed from the start with reduced scholarships because of Criner. Also didnt have very good facilities for a Big 8 school. Seemed like a great guy, just didn't really have a chance to succeed, recruiting was shaky too.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I know many here who remember those days don't care for him but I liked the guy, I was in the 9-14 range when he coached and the thing I remember most is you did not know what the hell you were gonna see. He will always have that huge upset over Nebraska which as a kid was the coolest moment as a young cyclone fan.
Not to hijack my own thread, but I’ve heard about that. What exactly did Criner do?
Didn't he beat Oklahoma also. If I recall correctly, I went to the Des Moines Airport to greet him and the team coming back from the OU win. He and Johnny Orr were a hoot together, made some great commercials.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
He was able to adjust on the fly. Short on talent he'd find an offense to suit the available personnel. There was a game against Missouri I remember He just kept running 3 options out of the same play and they couldn't be stopped. Modern terminology would call it an RPO.
The commercials with Johnny were classic.
The commercials with Johnny were classic.
Besides OU and Nebraska there are 3 other games that stand out: 91 a 23-22 win at Mizzou behind 3rd string QB Kevin Caldwell, the 91 snow game against Colorado where if you got to the game you were able to come in and the crazy game at home with KU where both teams managed to blow 20 point leads and we lost. That game featured the good ol' fumblerooski.
I remember the team singing the fight song after playing Oklahoma State to a tie in 1994....the closest thing to a win that season.
Tickets were easy to get and hard to get rid of.
In the moment I thought Walden was a joke. My first instinct is to say "SUCKS" when I hear his name
But looking back I realize he was trying to win games with the deck heavily stacked against him
Now....he's my pic on this CF deal.
Tickets were easy to get and hard to get rid of.
In the moment I thought Walden was a joke. My first instinct is to say "SUCKS" when I hear his name
But looking back I realize he was trying to win games with the deck heavily stacked against him
Now....he's my pic on this CF deal.
That was right after the Steve Lester saga. Tried to use the "wind tunnel" excuse as to why he switched to the option, but I think he was fed up with the university administration.
Criner and Walden has no shot to win. They just had the worst facilities in college football. Rusty lockers, it was terrible. He didn’t play Troy because Troy could not learn the blocking assignments and had trouble remembering all the plays. Mixed with the fact they were just trying to get his grades and get him familiar with college and our state.
He was able to dig his way out of Criner's mess before creating his own.
Almost ended the Iowa streak in year 2 ('88).
Year 3 ('89) was a 6-5 season, which would be an automatic bowl game now. Probably would have been 7-4 and a shoe-in for a bowl had Shudak not gotten suspended.
Year 4 ('90) was set up with Pedersen and Bryant returning, but they both got hurt at Minnesota (4-point loss) and both missed the Iowa game (10-point loss). Those two losses, along with the tie against Kansas, kind of derailed the season. Oklahoma wasn't OKLAHOMA in that era, but it was still a road win over a ranked team.
Switched to the option in '91.
'92 had the first loss to UNI along with the Marv Seiler game. Both were inexplicable. The NU win probably saved his job.
The comeback home win over ranked KSU in '93 almost offset another oh-so-close game against Iowa.
And then 1994 happened.
He went 6-5 one year (I think 1989) with Blaise Bryant as RB. Obviously now that would get you to a bowl game, but not back then.
FWIW, Bryant was an underrated running back who was fun to watch. As I remember, he was actually back for the 2011 Oklahoma State game.
Walden was a good guy who didn't have much of a shot at winning here.
FWIW, Bryant was an underrated running back who was fun to watch. As I remember, he was actually back for the 2011 Oklahoma State game.
Walden was a good guy who didn't have much of a shot at winning here.
The only two coaches I've talked with at official functions that didn't acted somewhat annoyed to be talking to some "commoner" alumni were Jim Walden and Paul Rhoads.
Somehow got on the subject of the 23-23 tie with Nebraska back when from when I was in school. Turned out Walden was an assistant for Nebraska at that time so that connected. Thought it was funny when he said "we" meaning Nebraska when we talked about that game, perfectly logical of course but still remember that for some reason. BTW, Johnny was hunkered down at the bar knocking down cocktails, didn't get a chance to chat with him at all.
Somehow got on the subject of the 23-23 tie with Nebraska back when from when I was in school. Turned out Walden was an assistant for Nebraska at that time so that connected. Thought it was funny when he said "we" meaning Nebraska when we talked about that game, perfectly logical of course but still remember that for some reason. BTW, Johnny was hunkered down at the bar knocking down cocktails, didn't get a chance to chat with him at all.
