By Danielle Daniels

Ryan Walters Purdue head football coach On 2024 Team Outlook July 2024.mp3   (INTERVIEW STARTS AT 2:45 mark)

RYAN WALTERS BIO

Considered one of the nation’s fastest rising young coaches, Ryan Walters is in his second season as head coach of the Boilermakers. Walters was announced as the 37th head coach in Purdue Football history on Dec. 13, 2022.

During his first season at Purdue, Walters and the Boilermakers faced one of the toughest schedules in the country. As the Boilermakers prepared to play Northwestern in their 11th game of the season, all 11 teams on Purdue’s schedule up to that point, including the Wildcats, did not have a losing record. Despite the gauntlet, Purdue tied for fourth in the Big Ten West and won both rivalry games to keep possession of the Cannon Trophy (Illinois) and the Old Oaken Bucket (Indiana) for the third straight season.

In Walters’ debut season guiding the Old Gold and Black, Purdue found success in all three phases of the game. The offense led the Big Ten in rushing in conference contests, averaging 184.6 yards per game. That included the Boilermakers rushing for more than 300 yards in back-to-back games for the first time since 1968. The 2,029 rushing yards were the most since 2012, while Purdue became the only team in the Big Ten with two running backs eclipsing 500 yards in conference games (Devin Mockobee – 625, Tyrone Tracy Jr. – 624). Purdue joined national champion Michigan as the only two teams to score seven touchdowns in a Big Ten contest.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Boilermakers recorded 35 sacks, the most since 2004 and the third-most in program history. Individually, Dillon Thieneman became an All-American (Third Team – AP) and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year after setting school records for interceptions (6) and solo tackles (74) by a freshman; both marks ranked third nationally by any defender in college football throughout the 2023 campaign. In Walters’ defense, the duo of Nic Scourton and Kydran Jenkins had more sacks and TFLs than any other teammates in the conference, as both Boilermakers cracked the Big Ten’s Top 3 in both categories.

The 2023 special teams unit averaged 24.2 yards per kickoff return, Purdue’s best since 2004 and the fourth-most all-time. Tracy returned a kick 98 yards for a touchdown in the season opener, the first by a Boilermaker since 2013, while ranking second in the Big Ten and 15th nationally in kick return average (25.5).

Walters brought energy and excitement to Purdue Football, as season tickets nearly reached 40,000 and broke the 30,000 mark for the first time since 2007. The Ross-Ade Brigade, Purdue’s student section, sold out season tickets for the first time in five years. Ross-Ade Stadium averaged 58,249 fans at each home game, the highest average attendance since 2007.

Hired at age 36 after spending two seasons as Illinois’ defensive coordinator and creating the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense (12.3 ppg in 2022), Walters became the fourth-youngest coach in the Power 5 conferences behind Kenny Dillingham (32-Arizona State), Kane Wommack (35-South Alabama) and Dan Lanning (36-Oregon) and eighth youngest in the FBS.

Walters elevated Illinois’ defensive unit from the back of the pack into one of the nation’s elite in just two seasons. Following the 2020 season, in which the Fighting Illini ranked 97th nationally in scoring defense (34.9) and 114th in yards allowed per game (466.8), Walters’ first year in Champaign saw his side of the ball rise to 29th (21.9) and 49th (367.0), respectively. In 2022, the results were shown nationwide as Illinois went into the bowl schedule No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (12.3) and No. 2 in yards allowed per game (263.8).

A former safety at Colorado (2004-08), Walters tutored two of the nation’s top defensive backs during his two-year stint in Champaign. Among six Illini defenders to earn All-Big Ten recognition in 2021 was safety Kerby Joseph, who was Illinois’ first All-Big Ten First Team defensive back since 1989. Two more Illinois defensive backs accomplished the feat in 2022, with Devon Witherspoon and Sydney Brown earning first team accolades from the conference. Witherspoon, notably, became Illinois’ first Jim Thorpe Award (top defensive back in college football) finalist in school history this past season.

Walters spent six seasons at Missouri prior to his tenure with the Illini, including three as defensive coordinator. He oversaw an impressive transformation of the Tigers’ defense into one of the Southeastern Conference’s top units. His 2019 defense ranked in the nation’s Top 20 in several categories, including total defense (14th NCAA; 3rd SEC – 312.0) and scoring defense (17th NCAA; 6th SEC – 19.4), while excelling as a Top 10 pass defense (8th in passing yards allowed NCAA; 2nd SEC – 179.3).

Walters previously served as co-defensive coordinator for the 2016 and 2017 seasons in Columbia before being promoted to defensive coordinator permanently ahead of the 2018 season, with Missouri’s overall defensive improvement leading the way to an eight-win season and bid to the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Previously during bowl preparation in December 2017, Walters ascended to the role of defensive coordinator before the squad’s 2017 Texas Bowl appearance after assuming control of the entire secondary ahead of that season. He had focused on the safeties in his first two seasons with the program.

Prior to making the move to Missouri in 2015, Walters coached at Memphis where he spent the 2014 season as cornerbacks coach and oversaw a defense that was among the most improved in the nation when the Tigers went 10-3.

A native of Aurora, Colorado, Walters was a football student-athlete at Colorado, where he was a standout safety for the Buffaloes (2004-08). He started 33 times in 46 career appearances as a Buffalo and earned All-Big 12 Conference Honorable Mention his senior season. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at Colorado, working with the secondary in 2009, and then spent two years on staff at Arizona, where he was a graduate assistant in 2010 before being promoted to defensive backs coach for the 2011 season.

From Arizona, Walters moved to Oklahoma as a graduate assistant cornerbacks coach in 2012, as the Sooners went 10-3 and played in the 2013 Cotton Bowl. He moved to North Texas for the 2013 season, where he oversaw cornerbacks and helped lead UNT to a 9-4 record in its first year in Conference USA.

Prior to his arrival at Illinois, Walters was one of 12 coaching participants in the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches’ inaugural Coalition Academy in April 2020, a first-of-its-kind mentorship program pairing influential athletic directors with minority football coaches.

Walters earned his degree in history from the University of Colorado in December 2008 with dual majors in history and ethnic studies. Walters and his wife Tara have two sons, Aaron and Cason.

COURTESY BIG TEN CONFERENCE AND PURDUE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS