Purdue fired football coach Ryan Walters on Sunday, a source with knowledge of the program’s decision confirmed, two seasons into his tenure and one day after a 66-0 thrashing to rival Indiana.
Purdue has struggled mightily under Walters, 38, compiling a 5-19 record and not finding any success. Before losing to Indiana, the Boilermakers (1-11) ranked 129th in scoring offense and 130th in scoring defense. Both aspects became direct failures for Walters for different reasons.
Purdue hired Walters in December 2022 after he guided Illinois to the nation’s top spot in scoring defense and No. 3 in total defense. He replaced Jeff Brohm, who led the pass-happy Boilermakers to the 2022 Big Ten West championship and left for Louisville before the Citrus Bowl that year.
For his reputation as a defensive mastermind, Walters’ defenses never were competitive. In 16 of Walters’ 24 games as coach, Purdue gave up at least 31 points. Every FBS opponent scored at least 24 points against Purdue this year, including 66 by Notre Dame, 52 by Wisconsin and 50 by Illinois.
But Purdue’s offensive woes were even worse. The Boilermakers’ tradition revolves around high-flying offense, spotlighted two years ago with quarterback Aidan O’Connell and receiver Charlie Jones. Walters wanted to play an offense like what Brohm presented but wasn’t fully committed to the scheme.
In his first major hire one week into his tenure, Walters brought in Air Raid proponent Graham Harrell as offensive coordinator. But Walters also wanted to control the clock to protect his defense, which doesn’t mesh with Air Raid conceptually. In three consecutive losses against FBS competition this year, Walters fired Harrell.
Without a coach with play-calling experience, Walters first turned to analyst Jason Simmons to step in as the offensive coordinator this year. But Simmons spent only one year in college football as the running backs coach at Miami (Ohio) and coached at two different Indiana high schools. After one game, Walters took over offensive play-calling responsibilities.
Required reading
- Which college football coaches have the hottest seats at the midseason mark?
- Grading every Big Ten football team at midseason: From A-plus (Oregon) to F (Purdue)
(Photo: Marc Lebryk / Imagn Images)
