1. Catch a Rising D3 Star
 by Shehan Jeyarajah, Texas Football
"When Scotty Walden was still a young coordinator at East Texas Baptist, he held a passing camp for high school quarterbacks.
Many young signal-callers from around the area wanted to learn the tools that suddenly made ETBU into an offensive juggernaut. More wanted to learn the secrets of the boisterous, blonde-haired 25-year-old wunderkind zooming through the ranks of Division III football.
One of those quarterbacks came with his head coach from Paris. Tim Billings had a long history in college football, but was at Paris North Lamar to have a chance to be closer to family. At most, he hoped to help his QB get some instruction. He didn’t realize that a chance encounter with Walden was about to change both of their lives.
- “It’s kind of like when I see a quarterback – there’s some quarterbacks that can spin it, but some of them just have ‘It,’” Billings said. “If we could can it and sell it, that would be great. Sometimes you just know. He’s just got that ‘It.’”
When Billings joined Jay Hopson’s staff at Southern Miss, he couldn’t help but remember that dynamic young coach who seemed ready to take on college football. After one year, receivers coach John Wozniak left USM for Oklahoma State. Immediately, the table was laid.
Three years later, that 30-year-old Texan is now the youngest head coach in the FBS. Officially, he’s an interim coach tasked with holding a program together after Hopson’s resignation. Ask those who know him best and the message is clear: Walden is ready."
>> Situational Awareness: "Walden’s path to ETBU was an astronomical rise. The Cleburne product spent time at NAIA Dordt University and D-III Hardin-Simmons. In search of playing time, he landed in Alpine, Texas at Sul Ross, deep in Big Bend. After his playing career ended, Walden joined SRU’s staff as a graduate assistant. Just months in, he was handed the reins of the offense – at the ripe, young age of 23, younger than a number of the players on the team. Plenty on the Division III roster were three years older than him."
>> Between The Lines: In year one, the ragtag bunch of Lobos led the whole NCAA – FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III – in total offense at an absurd 581.9 yards per game. He joined the ETBU staff and three years later, the Tigers won a share of the American Southwest Conference title, posting a winning record for the first time in a decade.
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