The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Scotty Walden

Followed Dana Dimel. Scotty Walden held UTEP at Regional Program V for 3 seasons.

The journeyman
6–22
2020–now · 2 stints
Southern MissUTEP
← all coaches

In his own words

Elliot’s [Sr.] hearts for kids, for develop[ment], you can tell he coached EJ when EJ was really young and that was a passion of his and just like that type of man he is what he stands for, I think that’s just a man and a family that loves their son

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 careerSOUTHERN MISSUTEPRegional Programthe building-block levelSouthern Miss, 2020: 1-3, Regional Program III2020-2.7UTEP, 2024: 3-9, Regional Program V2024UTEP, 2025: 2-10, Regional Program V2025UTEP, 2026: in progress, Regional Program V2026-0.4One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

UTEP, 3 seasons (active)
−0.4
Regional Program V → Regional Program V.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

40%50%Southern Miss2020–2020– 0.0ptUTEP2024–2026▼ 10.1pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)
How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints
UTEP16.8pt#32 of 258 · more than most

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.

One-score games
1–5
16.7% · margin ≤8
Buyout owed
$1,541,667 (est.)
bigger than 9% of FBS buyouts
Performance by opponent class
Power Program
0–3 0.0%
National Program
0–1 0.0%
Regional Program
3–13 18.8%

Coaching career

2024–now
UTEPcaretaker
Regional Program V → Regional Program V
Scotty Walden held UTEP at Regional Program V for 3 seasons.

18th-best UTEP tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and outperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
-30.9 pts
#199 of 208 · less than most
Defense vs. talent
+23.7 pts
#21 of 208 · more than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Dana Dimel (2018–2023).

Season202420252026Trend
Record & result
Record3–92–100–0
Postseason———
Recruiting rank#83#70#92
Style — pass rate
Pass rate45.552.235.5
Coordinators
OCRyan Stanchek / Jake BrownMark Cala / Ryan StanchekLanear Sampson / Joe Pappalardo
DCKelvin Sigler / J. J. ClarkKelvin Sigler / Bobby DalyKelvin Sigler / Kyle Beyer
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense1165
Defense705823
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%45.251.942.9
Red-zone pass%37.538.240.0
4th-down go%opp. territory32.446.7—
Roster construction · portal era

A portal-built roster.

Portal arrivals
74
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
97
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-23
#24 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)
6′1″, 217 lbs
across 50 of 74 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
-3.5 lbs
#252 of 255 · less than most
Avg. class year
Jr
#111 of 255 · a typical amount
Top states: TX (12), FL (7), AL (6), GA (4), LA (3)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
52.8
position-weighted
Talent lost
55.2
position-weighted
Net
-2.4
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Malachi Nelson (QB) from Boise State
Biggest loss: Malachi Nelson (QB) to Syracuse
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: co-Ryan Stanchek / Jake Brown → Mark Cala / co-Ryan Stanchek · 2025
11th pct6th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 45.2% → 51.9% (+6.7 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 100% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
OC: Mark Cala / co-Ryan Stanchek → Lanear Sampson / co-Joe Pappalardo · 2026
6th pct5th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 51.9% → 42.9% (-9.0 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only -1% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
DC: co-Kelvin Sigler / J. J. Clark → co-Kelvin Sigler / Bobby Daly · 2025
70th pct58th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
DC: co-Kelvin Sigler / Bobby Daly → co-Kelvin Sigler / Kyle Beyer · 2026
58th pct23rd pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Quarterback
199 lbs
6′1″ avg · #712 of 767 · less than most
Running back
195 lbs
5′10″ avg · #750 of 791 · less than most
Wide receiver
179 lbs
5′11″ avg · #775 of 791 · less than most
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
306 lbs
6′5″ avg · #496 of 779 · a typical amount
D-line
268 lbs
6′4″ avg · #678 of 753 · less than most
Linebacker
218 lbs
6′1″ avg · #732 of 772 · less than most
Cornerback
195 lbs
6′2″ avg · #148 of 771 · more than most
Safety
196 lbs
6′0″ avg · #202 of 346 · a typical amount
Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Running back via the portal
70%
#32 of 208 stints
Buys Linebacker via the portal
59%
#51 of 225 stints
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints

2 NFL Draft picks: Tyrice Knight (2024), Elijah Klein (2024)

AI Narratives — “UTEP — stat check”.

5–19
2020–2020
Southern Misscaretaker
Regional Program III → Regional Program III
Scotty Walden held Southern Miss at Regional Program III for 1 season.

12th-best Southern Miss tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+7.1 pts
#74 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-13.2 pts
#159 of 208 · less than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Succeeded by Will Hall (2021–2024).

1 NFL Draft pick: Quez Watkins (2020)

1–3