Jim Walden 1938-2026 • Former WSU football coach Jim Walden passes away at 88

From wire and news services and local reports 

Jim Walden, one of the most colorful figures in the colorful history of Washington State football, died Thursday in Coeur d’Alene. 

He was 88.

His wife, Nancy, told Cougfan.com Walden died of acute respiratory failure.

“We are saddened to learn of the passing of Coach Walden,” WSU athletic director Jon Haarlow said. “He will forever be remembered as a great Coug who deeply loved Washington State. Our heart is with Coach Walden’s family, friends and all the former players whose lives he positively impacted.” 

Walden, who served as WSU head football coach from 1978-86, was not one to hold back as a player or a coach, and neither were his Cougar football teams from the time he took over between the 1977 and 1978 seasons through his final campaign in the fall of 1986.  

The Cougars displayed many of the same characteristics Walden exhibited, including a passion for the sport and an outspoken and charismatic personality, plus a willingness to take more than a few chances. 

Taking the reins after WSU had three head coaches in three years, Walden assured the Cougar faithful he not only would stay around, but he would stay to build a winner. Four years later he guided WSU to the 1981 Holiday Bowl, WSU’s first postseason bowl game since the 1931 Rose Bowl. 

Walden delivered on his promises while defeating every team in the Pacific-10 Conference.  

He finished his nine-year Cougar stint with 44 wins, at that time, second on the Washington State all-time list, while also being named Pac-10 Coach of the Year twice, in 1981 and 1983.  

Jack Thompson, Rueben Mayes and Mark Rypien were among the Cougar greats coached by Walden. 

He played a big role in bringing the Apple Cup rivalry game with the Washington Huskies back to Pullman in 1982, for the first time since 1954. When it was WSU’s year to host, the games were at Albi Stadium in Spokane. In ‘82, in the first Apple Cup held in the Palouse in nearly 30 years, WSU knocked off UW 24-20.

After retiring from coaching in 1994, Walden showed his Crimson colors by returning to the Palouse, where he has served as Bob Robertson’s broadcast sidekick for 11 seasons (2001-11). 

Before that, he was a radio color commentator for the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League. 

In recent years, he lived in Harrison and hosted a Saturday morning radio show during the college football season. 

Walden was inducted into the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 and the University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011, where he was an All-American quarterback.  

Walden was born and raised in Aberdeen, Miss., and played quarterback in junior college before transferring to Wyoming, where he played for future Nebraska coach Bob Devaney. He led the Cowboys to two championships in the old Skyline Conference. 

Walden was chosen by Cleveland in the NFL draft and Denver in the AFL draft in 1960, but he chose instead to play in the CFL for the BC Lions because he was offered more money. He also played for Calgary and Edmonton before getting into coaching. 

Walden returned to Mississippi and spent five years as head coach at Amory (Miss.) High before Devaney hired him at Nebraska, where he was an assistant on the Huskers' national championship teams in 1970 and 1971. 

He also spent time at Miami (Florida) before moving to Washington State, where he was offensive backfield coach for one season before becoming head coach in 1978.  

Ten years later, he moved on to Iowa State, where he went 28–57–3 in eight seasons. At Iowa State, he succeeded former Boise State coach Jim Criner. 

At Washington State, Walden was succeeded as coach by Dennis Erickson. 

A memorial service will be announced at a later date. 

    Washington State Athletics Jim Walden, head football coach at Washington State from 1978-86, was inducted in the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.