Jul. 4—Please pardon the sentimentality of this column, written, as it was, while my laptop gently weeps.
Jim Walden died on Thursday at age 88. He was head football coach at Washington State University (1978-86). The sense of loss is made keener by the simple truth that they're not making coaches like Walden anymore.
He was the perfect coach at a time of great need in Pullman. The fourth head football coach in four seasons at WSU, he promised to stay, and he did.
Getting the Cougs in the 1981 Holiday Bowl broke a 51-year postseason drought, and it not only stifled some threadbare jokes about WSU's competitiveness, it also laid the foundation for greater things for the program's future.
He did it with a homespun humor that often drew more attention than his toughness, his discipline, and his great affection for his players.
Jim Walden died on Thursday at age 88. He was head football coach at Washington State University (1978-86). The sense of loss is made keener by the simple truth that they're not making coaches like Walden anymore.
He was the perfect coach at a time of great need in Pullman. The fourth head football coach in four seasons at WSU, he promised to stay, and he did.
Getting the Cougs in the 1981 Holiday Bowl broke a 51-year postseason drought, and it not only stifled some threadbare jokes about WSU's competitiveness, it also laid the foundation for greater things for the program's future.
He did it with a homespun humor that often drew more attention than his toughness, his discipline, and his great affection for his players.
4 months ago
