fbpx
Skip to main content

Southern Miss coach Walden tests positive for COVID-19

Southern Miss interim coach Scotty Walden tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the school announced.

Walden’s status for Saturday’s road game at Liberty remains unclear.

The school said Walden is in self-isolation at home and will take a PCR test (Polymerase Chain Reaction) on Wednesday.

“Earlier this morning I tested positive for COVID-19,” Walden said in a statement. “I am fine and have mild to no symptoms. I am quarantining back home until it is safe to rejoin the team. I want to thank Golden Eagle Nation for all of their support for our program during this difficult period. I want to thank our players and staff for continuing to be incredibly resilient during such an unstable time.

“Our team will continue to work diligently in preparation for our game this Saturday against Liberty.”

Southern Miss has had each of its past two games postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks. A home game against Florida Atlantic on Oct. 10 was postponed after an outbreak in the Owls’ program and a road game at UTEP on Oct. 17 was postponed when more than 20 Southern Miss players were unavailable to play due to an outbreak.

Neither game has been rescheduled.

The Golden Eagles (1-3) last played on Oct. 3 when they won 41-31 at North Texas.

Walden became interim coach when Jay Hopson resigned four days after a season-opening 32-21 loss to South Alabama.

Walden is the eighth known FBS football coach to test positive for COVID-19 this season. Blake Anderson (Arkansas State), Jeff Brohm (Purdue), Les Miles (Kansas), Dan Mullen (Florida), Mike Norvell (Florida State), Nick Saban (Alabama) and Kevin Sumlin (Arizona) also have tested positive since Labor Day.

–Field Level Media

Mentioned in this article:

More About: