Coaches / Head coach / Jim Walden
Career
60
not coaching now
Rating—recent
Peak61best 5 yrs
Career60whole career
confidence
Jim Walden
Head coach, 1978–1994
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
—
index in development
Seasons here—
Programs2
Stints2
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
As head coach
Rating—Peak61Career60
1978–1994 · 17 seasonsRecord 69-112National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 61: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 61: best five-season stretch, 1981–1985 at Washington State (28-26), taking over an average program.
- Career 60 (#341 since 1936): total accomplishment over 17 seasons (69-112), 0 national titles, 0 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Iowa State | 0-10-1 | #87 | -0.91 SD |
| 1993 | Iowa State | 3-8 | #55 | -0.06 SD |
| 1992 | Iowa State | 4-7 | #47 | +0.15 SD |
| 1991 | Iowa State | 3-7-1 | #75 | -0.57 SD |
| 1990 | Iowa State | 4-6-1 | #54 | -0.02 SD |
| 1989 | Iowa State | 6-5 | #68 | -0.34 SD |
| 1988 | Iowa State | 5-6 | #69 | -0.41 SD |
| 1987 | Iowa State | 3-8 | #88 | -1.10 SD |
| 1986 | Washington State | 3-7-1 | #49 | +0.04 SD |
| 1985 | Washington State | 4-7 | #42 | +0.32 SD |
| 1984 | Washington State | 6-5 | #50 | +0.15 SD |
| 1983 | Washington State | 7-4 | #39 | +0.35 SD |
| 1982 | Washington State | 3-7-1 | #68 | -0.41 SD |
| 1981 | Washington State | 8-3-1 | #22 | +0.96 SD |
| 1980 | Washington State | 4-7 | #49 | +0.23 SD |
| 1979 | Washington State | 3-8 | #78 | -0.35 SD |
| 1978 | Washington State | 3-7-1 | #54 | +0.10 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).