The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Jim Walden

Followed Jim Criner. Jim Walden held Iowa State at Regional Program III for 8 seasons.

Peak, then fade
69–112
1978–1994 · 2 stints
Washington StateIowa State
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerWASHINGTON STATEIOWA STATENational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelWashington State, 1978: 3-7, Regional Program II1978Washington State, 1979: 3-8, Regional Program IIWashington State, 1980: 4-7, Regional Program IIWashington State, 1981: 8-3, Regional Program IWashington State, 1982: 3-7, Regional Program IWashington State, 1983: 7-4, Regional Program IWashington State, 1984: 6-5, Regional Program IWashington State, 1985: 4-7, National Program IIIWashington State, 1986: 3-7, National Program III1986+6.0Iowa State, 1987: 3-8, Regional Program III1987Iowa State, 1988: 5-6, Regional Program IVIowa State, 1989: 6-5, Regional Program IIIIowa State, 1990: 4-6, Regional Program IIIIowa State, 1991: 3-7, Regional Program IIIIowa State, 1992: 4-7, Regional Program IIIIowa State, 1993: 3-8, Regional Program IIIIowa State, 1994: 0-10, Regional Program III1994+1.5One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 8th career season — faster than 7% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #617 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Washington State, 9 seasons
+6.0
Regional Program II → National Program III.
Iowa State, 8 seasons
+1.5
Regional Program III → Regional Program III.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

3–14 against his rivals. Winless in 9 tries against Bill McCartney.

Rivalry record
3–14
17.6% · 2 rivals
One-score games
20–31–7
34.5% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–13
7.1%
Rivalry ledger
Washington3–633%
Iowa0–80%
The toughest matchup
vs. Bill McCartney0–9
9 meetings, 1982–1994
’82 L’87 L’88 L’89 L’90 L’91 L’92 L’93 L’94 L
0% win rate across a real, 9-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
1–13 7.1%
Power Program
9–44 17.0%
National Program
11–25 30.6%
Regional Program
37–27 57.8%

Coaching career

1987–1994
Iowa Statecaretaker
Regional Program III → Regional Program III
Jim Walden held Iowa State at Regional Program III for 8 seasons.

13th-best Iowa State tenure of 19 by the numbers.

Followed Jim Criner (1983–1986) · succeeded by Dan McCarney (1995–2006).

4 NFL Draft picks: Keith Sims (1990), Marcus Robertson (1991), Gene Williams (1991), Blaise Bryant (1991)

28–57
1978–1986
Washington Statecaretaker
Regional Program II → National Program III
Jim Walden moved Washington State from Regional Program II to National Program III in 9 seasons.

11th-best Washington State tenure of 21 by the numbers.

Followed Warren Powers (1977–1977) · succeeded by Dennis Erickson (1987–1988).

17 NFL Draft picks: Ken Greene (1978), Don Schwartz (1978), Mike Levenseller (1978), Dan Doornink (1978), Jack Thompson (1979), Bob Gregor (1980), Scott Pelluer (1981), Paul Sorensen (1982) + 9 more

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