Scotty Walden (born November 15, 1989) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is currently the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Austin Peay State University Austin Peay State University () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 and named for then-sitt ...

. Walden had previously served as the head coach at

East Texas Baptist University East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) is a private Baptist university in Marshall, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). History ETBU is located on the site of the former Van Zandt Fa ...

and interim head coach at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

Playing career

Walden graduated from

Cleburne High School Cleburne High School is a public high school located in the city of Cleburne, Texas. The school is in the Cleburne Independent School District. History A high school was occupied in Cleburne in the 1910s, replacing an older schoolhouse. The ...

Cleburne, Texas Cleburne is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 29,337. The city is named in honor of Patrick Cleburne, a Confederate general. Lake Pat Cleburne, the reservoir that pro ...

. Following high school he attended three different colleges:

Dordt College Dordt University is a private evangelical Christian university in Sioux Center, Iowa. It was founded in 1955 and is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church in North America. The university name is a reference to the Synod of Dordt (Dord ...

Sioux Center, Iowa Sioux Center is a city in Sioux County, Iowa. The population was 8,229 at the time of the 2020 census. Sioux Center is notable for its Dutch heritage, agribusiness, and as the location of Dordt University. Geography Sioux Center is located at ...

(2008–2009),

Hardin–Simmons University Hardin–Simmons University (HSU) is a private Baptist university in Abilene, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). History Hardin–Simmons University was founded as Abilene Baptist ...

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...

(2009–2011), and finally

Sul Ross State University Sul Ross State University (SRSU) is a public university in Alpine, Texas. The main campus is the primary institution of higher education serving the nineteen-county Big Bend region of far West Texas. Branch campuses, branded as Rio Grande Colleg ...

Alpine, Texas Alpine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,905 at the 2010 census. The town has an elevation of , and the surrounding mountain peaks are over above sea level. The university, hospi ...

(2011–2012). He played football at all three institutions, and started as

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

in 2008 and 2011.

Coaching career

Walden's coaching career began in the spring of 2012, while he was still an undergraduate at Sul Ross State. He worked as an offensive assistant under offensive coordinator John Tyree; when Tyree stepped down at the end of the academic year head coach Wayne Schroeder named Walden to replace him. Sul Ross State's offense flourished in 2012, and at the end of the season

Joshua Eargle Joshua King Eargle (born January 6, 1979) is an American football coach and former player. He is the Deputy Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach at Florida International University (FIU). Eargle served as the head football coach at East Texas Bapti ...

, the new head coach at conference rival

, hired Walden away to become offensive coordinator on his staff. Eargle resigned from the East Texas Baptist job in January 2016, and the university promoted Walden, then 26, to replace him. At the time of his hiring, the NCAA believed Walden to be the youngest college head football coach in the United States. After one year at East Texas Baptist, during which the team compiled a 7–3 record, Walden departed in 2017 to become the wide receivers coach at

the University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

under head coach

Jay Hopson James Walter Hopson (born October 13, 1968) is an American football coach and former player. In 2016Hopsonmade history as the only head coach in the history of the state of Mississippi to guide two different in-state universities to bowl games whe ...

, replacing John Wozniak. Walden gained the title of co-offensive coordinator in 2019. Southern Miss named Walden interim head coach on September 7, 2020, after Hopson stepped down. On October 27, 2020, Walden was named the new head coach for Austin Peay. He is currently the youngest coach in Division I at 30 years old. Walden took over coaching duties after non-conference play in 2020–21 and led Austin Peay to a 4–2 record in the conference while the team finished 4–5 overall.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Austin Peay profile

Southern Miss profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walden, Scotty 1989 births Living people American football quarterbacks Austin Peay Governors football coaches Dordt Defenders football players East Texas Baptist Tigers football coaches Hardin–Simmons Cowboys football players Southern Miss Golden Eagles football coaches Sul Ross Lobos football coaches Sul Ross Lobos football players People from Cleburne, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Texas