Portland State is one of the worst environments for colllege football I've experienced. The stadium is cold, dark and sterile, and usually about 65 percent empty. The local papers bury any coverage of the team, while Oregon and Oregon State get front-page, full page coverage on game days. PSU football is already "irrelevant" for most of the Portland area. The only saving grace is there is still a lot of local talent to draw from, and Walsh can still use the city of Portland to help recruit California kids. The team remains consistently competitive, but nobody in the city really cares.
The Pokey Allen days were special for a couple of reasons: Allen was a certifiable character, and the marketing firm took full advantage of that. (I love the meteriorite gag described in the story linked above). You can only get away with stuff like that if you've got a coach with the personality to go with it. Tim Walsh, while he's a solid football coach, is no Pokey Allen. Montana State, on the other hand, has really taken advantage of Mike Kramer's outgoing personality and they are selling out just about every home game these days.
When you're trying to market 1-AA football, especially in a situation like Portland, you really need to consider personality as well as football knowledge when you're hiring a coach.
