UTEP's New Football Coach Scotty Walden May Be The Craziest College Basketball Fan In The Country

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In case you missed it on Thursday night - you definitely did - UTEP played host to Louisiana Tech on the hardwood. The Miners were attempting to pull off the upset at home against the Conference USA-leading Bulldogs, and while their effort came up short, head football coach Scotty Walden was doing everything in his power to will his school to victory.

Walden, who was hired by UTEP in December after a successful run at Austin Peay, brought all the energy imaginable to the Don Haskins Center in El Paso. He decided that Thursday night would be his introduction to Miners' fans, and my goodness did he make an impression.

Walden painted his body blue, had the team's orange logo painted on his chest, and ran around the arena like a madman during a break in the action. We're not talking about a quick run around the arena, either, he soaked every second of the timeout and ran around the arena for a solid 45 seconds.

From jumping onto the scorer's table, making it into the student section, and taunting Louisiana Tech players at the free throw line, Walden checked every box.

I'm going to bet some feeling of regret started to sink in once he realized UTEP wasn't going to win the basketball game - the Miners lost 65-59 - but hey, he can hang his hat on the all-out effort he gave to the team.

If you're a UTEP football fan, you've got to be pretty excited about the Walden era getting underway this Fall. The man is clearly motivated and excited for the opportunity to coach at the FBS level after three successful seasons with Austin Peay. Before his stint at Austin Peay, Walden was the interim head coach at Southern Miss for four games and spent one season as the head coach at East Texas Baptist.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.