In 'Walden Bowl,' plenty of parallels and contrasts

SAN ANTONIO — Jim Walden hadn't coached a down of football at Ames, Iowa, before he realized, in a sense, he had never left Pullman, Wash.

It was the same friendly vibe, the same leisurely tempo, the same lack of pretense.

This was 1987, and Walden's impressions hardly changed as he spent the next eight years trying to build a consistently successful program at Iowa State. It was a challenging task, but so was the one he'd been grappling with the previous nine seasons at Washington State.

Walden, now retired at age 80, will have a unique understanding of these schools' similarities and differences (not to mention their contrasting X's and O's) when the Cougars and Cyclones clash for the first time ever Friday (6 p.m., ESPN), in the Alamo Bowl at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

In short, both programs are forever striving, often against the odds. But one of them is more closely watched than the other.

If Walden's memories hold true, in any case, the two schools aren't taking their recent success for granted. The No. 12 Cougars (10-2), making their fourth straight bowl appearance under seventh-year coach Mike Leach, are aiming for a school-record 11th win, while No. 25 Iowa State (8-4) is bowling for the second straight season under third-year boss Matt Campbell.

Walden sensed a bit of cultural deja vu three decades ago when he traveled the 1,500 miles from Pullman to Ames.

"The first five, six months I was at Iowa State, I was almost taken aback by how similar they were," he said by phone. "It was a sincerity. I just thought, 'My God, they're just the same.' They were very genuine.

"One thing you learn about the Iowa States and the Washington States of this world. They're not spoiled. They understand the downs and the ups. They don't have many airs about who they are."

The most obvious parallel between Pullman and Ames is their rural surroundings, implicit in their schools' origins as agricultural colleges. For Walden, another common trait is their endless quests to measure up to their more prominent arch-rivals, the universities of Iowa and Washington, respectively.

For whatever reason, the schools have produced the same number of winning seasons this century: six.

The state of Iowa, relatively small, produces perhaps five blue-chip prep football prospects a year, Walden estimated. Iowa State feels lucky if it can snag one of them, he said. That should sound familiar to Cougar fans.

"If Iowa wants them, it's just like trying to beat Washington out for a kid in western Washington," Walden said. "You can do all you want, you can sing your praises, but the reality is, if the University of Washington wants a kid in Everett, they're going to get him. I mean, it's just as simple as that. And that's exactly what I found with Iowa."

Walden never quite solved the recruiting puzzle while posting a 28-57-3 record at Iowa State. It didn't help that he was docked four scholarships for each of his first two seasons because of NCAA violations by the previous coaching staff.

The puzzle at Washington State, where he went 44-52-4 during a near-decade starting in 1978, was more complicated. Walden brought immeasurable stability to the program, recorded three winning seasons and, in 1981, led the Cougars to their first bowl berth in five decades. But he struggled with what he saw as a lack of financial support and finally bid a tearful farewell after going 3-7-1 in 1986, saying he had accepted an offer from Iowa State. He clearly wasn't leaving for the money - in the personal sense.

In his 2013 memoir, "Tales from the Washington State Cougars Sideline," Walden wrote about Pullman, "I loved the place and I still do, that hasn't diminished a bit. But in my heart, I felt it was time for them have a new coach."

A big part of his financial issues at WSU could be attributed to the geographical remoteness of Pullman, which translated into empty seats on game day. That's a much smaller problem at Ames, which sits in the middle of the state and is only 35 miles south of Des Moines, the most populous city in Iowa.

"In the long run, they are both very loyal," Walden said of Cougars and Cyclones. "Iowa State does a better job of participating in that loyalty. There's a reason for that. They are centrally located."

Walden has spent his retirement in Cougar country, living near Coeur d'Alene and formerly serving as color commentator for WSU radio broadcasts. But he retains ties to Iowa State, and he said his torn loyalties have dissuaded him from attending this Alamo Bowl. He'll watch on TV. He did attend the Cyclones' 40-31 home win over Texas Tech this season, and was impressed with their football facilities.

Four years ago, the school added several thousand seats to its Jack Trice Stadium, bringing its capacity to 61,500. Washington State, too, has spent lavishly on its football infrastructure this decade, but the capacity of its Martin Stadium remains 32,952 and the size of its athletic-department debt discourages further spending.

The contrast is carrying over into this bowl game. Iowa State quickly sold its allotment of 12,000 tickets and scored an extra 2,000. As of last Friday, the Cougars had sold only 5,200.

Walden isn't surprised.

"Iowa Staters came to the games, even when we were bad," he said. "They might get up and leave and not come back at the half. But they bought their tickets. They just love to go to games, more so than Cougars. I don't want to be too harsh on the Cougars. Geography plays a part in that."