Chatting with Don James and Jim Walden

When Don James became head coach at Washington in 1975, he was known mostly as the guy who succeeded Jim Owens. Little was known about the 44-year-old father of three other than he had turned around a program at Kent State University in Ohio, which was better known as the place where four students were killed and nine wounded by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970 — the years before James took over there as coach.

Contrary to the belief of many, it was Joe Kearney and not Mike Lude who hired James at Washington. Lude hired James at Kent State, and later became the Huskies’ athletic director.

James and his wife Carol, both from Massillon, Ohio, have been married 56 years. Their oldest daughter, Jill, is married to Jeff Woodruff, who was a longtime James assistant and is presently assistant head coach and tight ends coach for Mike Price at UTEP.

Walden, meanwhile, was in 1978 known as the guy who succeeded Warren Powers, who succeeded Jackie Sherrill, who succeeded Jim Sweeney. After Sweeney was fired, Sherrill left after one year for Pittsburgh and Warren left after one year for Missouri. The fourth WSU coach in as many years, Walden pledged to stabilize the program, and did.

After leaving WSU for Iowa State after the 1986 season, during which he became the Cougars’ third winningest coach, Walden led the Cyclones until 1995 when he moved into broadcasting. This is his eighth season as color commentator with veteran play-by-play man Bob Robertson.

In their nine Apple Cups, James won six (1978, 79, 80, 81, 84 and 86) and Walden three (1982, 83, 85).

James is 75 years old, Walden is 70.

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Neither coach, as one might imagine, is pleased with the state of his former program.

“You’d like to see your team be competitive,” James said. “They’re our team, for Carol and I, even though we didn’t go there. One of my grandsons did. So for Carol and I, that’s our team. That’s who we cheer for and pull for. Three of the guys on the staff (defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, defensive line coach Randy Hart and recruiting coordinator/linebackers coach Chris Tormey) coached with me there, and I know Tyrone (head coach Willingham) pretty well. I feel sorry for them.”

On what it will take to turn the program around, James said, “It’s going to take some staff continuity. You have to have good leadership and a good staff and then you have to get out and recruit.”

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Said Walden, “How two programs can be at as high a level as these two were just a few years ago, when (Rick) Neuheisel was in the Rose Bowl (2000 season) and Bill Doba had the Cougars in the Holiday Bowl (2003 season).

Of the Cougars, Walden said, “It’s certainly not coaching that’s the problem right now at Washington State. I love Bill Doba, and the thing with him was he was trying to do the 60-hour-a week job of being a football coach and also do the 70-hour-a-week job of caring for his wife, who was dying. I know what that last one’s like, because I went through the same thing. And with Bill, it just didn’t work.”

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About the Huskies, he said, “One of the last times I talked to Don, I said, ‘Where were these teams when I was at Washington State?’ In the last seven seasons, their best team hasn’t been as good as your worst team.’ I’m not that familiar with all that has gone on at Washington, and I know there has been some turnover, but right now I do not know in my mind how right now there are so few athletes there at Washington.”

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Walden’s son, Murray, coached with his father at Iowa State and also was an assistant at Eastern Washington. He’s presently the running backs coach at Lewis & Clark High School in Spokane.

Filed under * WSU Cougars, * Washington Huskies, All, College