Jim Walden (born April 10, 1938) is an American former gridiron football player and coach.

He served as the head football coach at Washington State University from 1978 to 1986 and Iowa State University from 1987 to 1994, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 72–109–7 (.402) over 17 seasons.

Walden played college football as a quarterback at the University of Wyoming and professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders, and Edmonton Eskimos Born and raised in Aberdeen, Mississippi, Walden played quarterback at Itawamba Junior College in Fulton and then for head coach Bob Devaney at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

Walden led the Cowboys to consecutive Skyline Conference titles and was the league's player of the year as a senior in 1959.

[3] He moved up to college level in 1969 on Bob Devaney's staff at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he assisted on consecutive national championship teams in 1970 and 1971.

Walden followed Warren Powers, another Devaney assistant, to Washington State University in Pullman as offensive backfield coach in 1977 and when Powers left for the University of Missouri after the season, Walden succeeded him as head coach of the Cougars.

[4][5][6] He was the head coach at WSU from 1978 through 1986, compiling a 44–52–3 (.460) record in nine seasons and coached some of the greatest players in school history, including Jack Thompson, Rueben Mayes, Kerry Porter, Ricky Reynolds, Paul Sorensen, Pat Beach, Brian Forde, Lee Blakeney, Mark Rypien, Dan Lynch, Keith Millard, and Erik Howard.

Walden succeeded Jim Criner at Iowa State, where he compiled a 28–57–3 (.335) record over eight seasons.

[10] Walden had 47 scholarship players on his 1989 squad that he brought to Lincoln to play Nebraska on October 28.

[17] Iowa State bounced back to shock the seventh ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers at home on November 14, 1992.

The victory was even more improbable because Walden was starting his third-string quarterback, Marv Seiler, for the first time.

In the spring of 1994, Walden secured star running back Troy Davis from Florida.

Kansas State's Nyle Wiren had body-slammed Walden's quarterback Todd Doxzon into the turf head first.

[26] He hosted a Sunday evening radio show in Iowa on WHO called "Two Guys Named Jim".

Florida handily defeated Ohio State 41–14 in the BCS National Championship Game on January 8, 2007.