Scotty Walden lays out plan for Southern Miss football. ‘Attack all things head on.’
Shortly after being informed that he was selected as interim head football coach at Southern Miss, Scotty Walden sent a text message to his wife.
“It’s me.”
“She went nuts in the text. She thought I was lying.” Walden said Wednesday in his first media briefing since taking taking over the program.
The 72 hours that followed have been a blur for Walden, who Monday replaced the resigned Jay Hopson.
“There’s not been a lot of sleep,” Walden said. “I haven’t seen my wife or kids. I’ve had a lot of meetings. It’s been a whirlwind.”
Along with the excitement of the promotion came the mixed emotions of replacing Hopson, who Walden said he deeply respects.
“Kind of the best way to describe is it’s bittersweet,” Walden said. “My feelings have been up and down like a roller coaster. Coach Hopson is a mentor for me and a guy I look up to. He helped my career and took a chance on me. I called him and told him I love him. He’s been very supportive.”
Whatever reservations Walden may have about replacing Hopson will need to be put behind him as he starts the task of righting the ship for a team that has lost four consecutive games, including an embarrassing 32-21 defeat to South Alabama in the season opener Sept. 3.
Scotty Walden reaches his goal early at USM
Walden’s rise from a 22-year-old Div. III graduate assistant to FBS head coach in the span of eight years is difficult to fathom, but the Texas native has been on a fast track since he wrapped his playing career at tiny Sul Ross State.
When he accepted Southern Miss athletic Jeremy McClain’s offer to take over the program, Walden instantly became the youngest head coach in FBS.
He has an interim next to his title, but he can’t be discounted as a candidate to become the Golden Eagles’ full-time head coach.
Walden has a habit of exceeding expectations.
He built a reputation as a coaching wunderkind when he became the offensive coordinator at Div. III Sul Ross State as a graduate assistant in 2012. In his first year of calling plays, the Lobos rolled up 48.8 points and 581.9 yards a contest to lead all of the NCAA in both categories.
He next served three seasons as the offensive coordinator at another Texas Div. III school, East Texas Baptist. After putting up impressive marks while leading the Tigers’ offense, he became the youngest head coach in all of the NCAA in 2016 at age 26.
ETBU finished 7-3 in his lone season as head coach.
The next year, he landed on the USM staff as receivers coach after first being identified as a potential candidate for the staff by USM assistant Tim Billings, who introduced him to Hopson. In 2019, he had co-offensive coordinator added to his title.
Walden is now the man in charge and he realizes the responsibility placed before him.
“It means everything to me, especially at a program like Southern Miss,” Walden said. “I’ll never forget in college I watched the 2011 conference championship game vs. Houston. I was a big fan of (Houston quarterback) Case Keenum and I figured it would be a good game to watch. I fell in love with the way the black and gold played. That’s big time football.
“Now, I’m sitting here as a Division I coach at a place like this. I don’t take that lightly. It’s something I’m very excited, passionate about.”
In the running to become the USM head coach
Walden will operate in the spotlight for a variety of reasons, including the pressure to deliver wins and bolster his chances of taking over the USM program on a full-time basis.
Matt Kubik was hired away from Louisiana-Monroe earlier this year to run the USM offense with Walden serving as his co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach.
Walden said there was still a good deal to be decided on how play calls will be made when USM takes the field again on Sept. 19 against Louisiana Tech in Hattiesburg.
“I’m an offensive guy and there are things I really believe in,” Walden said. “Coach Kubik is a hell of an offensive coordinator and he has done nothing but great things every spot he’s been. We’re really going to collaborate on a lot of things.
“Even before I got this promotion, he and I have been collaborating. Now, it’ll move more into the ground game. I view it as a collaboration in terms of what we do.”
While Walden shied away from saying what changes he had in store for the offense, he indicated Wednesday that he wants to see a quicker pace on the field.
“I’ll be heavily involved because that’s my forte,” he said. “We’re going to attack people and put up points. We’re not going to take our foot off the gas. We’re going to go full speed ahead whether that’s tempo, shooting the ball down the field or running down field vertically. We’ll attack people and do it all four quarters.”
Taking on all aspects of the USM program
Walden has been a head coach before so he knows his changes will go well beyond tinkering with the offensive scheme.
He’ll have to bring together a team that’s coming off a deflating loss and the resignation of its head coach.
The one message that he wants to get across to players before they take the field again is that the game is about them.
“It goes back to embracing the moment,” Walden said. “It’s making sure they understand I’m not just an offensive coach. I’ll spend a lot of time with the defense. I’m not over there telling (defensive coordinator Tony Pecoraro) what to run. I’ll tell him if I see something, but it’s making sure the energy is right.
“We had a pick today at practice. You go celebrate that with them. That’s the fun part about being head coach. No matter which side is winning, I’m winning. I think they need to know coming out of this bye week is it’s about them going forward. We’re going to create an environment where they can be successful on and off the field.”
While he may only be about 8 years older than some of his players, Walden doesn’t plan to drop the youthful energy he has shown in games during his time at USM — jumping off the sideline and celebrating with his players.
“I’m not going to change who I am,” Walden said. “I will still be the same fool, jumping around and energized. I’m a huge believer that body language and what comes out of your mouth matters. I’ve coached that almost harder than anything. I think it permeates the whole team.”
The Louisiana Tech game is in some question after the Bulldogs had to postpone this Saturday’s game at Baylor after 36 players tested positive for COVID-19 last week, but Walden plans to attack each day to make sure the team can get past the South Alabama loss.
“We’re not going to get caught blindsided,” he said. “We want to get this taste out of our mouths.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 9:25 PM.
