Purdue Gets Defensive With Brohm’s Replacement
Last week Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski said Jeff Brohm’s replacement didn’t have to be offensive-minded necessarily. He wasn’t kidding.
Less than one week after Brohm departed West Lafayette to become the head coach at Louisville, Purdue announced Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters will become the program’s 37th head coach. Walters will be officially announced as Brohm’s heir apparent at noon on Wednesday.
Is Walters the home run hire Boilermaker Nation was clamoring for? No. However, even though he has no head coaching experience, the 36-year-old is quite heralded among coaching circles.
Walters, the fourth-youngest coach in the Bowl Subdivision, is a finalist for the Broyles Award, signifying the nation’s best assistant (along with counterparts from Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan and TCU).
He won 247 Sports Defensive Coordinator of the Year Award and was named On3 National Coordinator of the Year.
Former Notre Dame All-American, NFL offensive lineman and college football analyst for CBS Sports tweeted the following about Walters, “He’s a phenomenal DC, fingers crossed he can translate that to HC success as well. BIG win for Purdue.”
Jake Butt, a standout at Michigan and analyst for the Big Ten Network, tweeted, “During our game preps this year – I got the chance to meet and speak with many head and assistant coaches. Coach Walters stands out amongst the best. Purdue is getting a great one. Someone players will love to play for! Boiler Football is getting a good one.
“I was impressed by character, mindset, philosophy, leadership, awareness, and by the way his players and colleagues spoke of him. All foundation tools that I believe = success.”
Carl Reed, CBS Sports and 247 Sports college football analyst, tweeted, “Ryan Walters is going to do great things at Purdue. It’s his time to show the world how special he is. Purdue just hit a home run.”
Walters’ defenses were special.
His Illini defense ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (12.3 points per game) and second in total defense this season. Illinois finished the 2022 regular season with an 8-4 record with five of those victories holding their opponents under seven points and seven wins at 10 points or fewer.
Keep in mind, Walters inherited a defense that allowed nearly 35 points a game in 2020 (97th nationally).
In 2021, his defense improved to 29th in the country, permitting 21.9 points per game.
The last two seasons, Walters has had a trio of defensive backs named first-team All-Big Ten, including Devon Witherspoon, a Jim Thorpe Award finalist this season who has appeared on many All-American teams.
Prior to his stint at Illinois, Walters, a former safety at Colorado (2004-08), spent six seasons at Missouri, including three as defensive coordinator. There he molded the Tigers into one of the best defenses in Southeastern Conference and a top 20 national ranking in several categories.
He has also coached at his alma mater, Memphis, North Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma.
Walters will have some skeptics at Purdue.
After all, history is not on Purdue’s side when it comes to head football coaching transitions. Never in my lifetime have the Boilermakers had consecutive winning tenures by head coaches and that includes the post-Jack Mollenkopf, post-Jim Young and post-Joe Tiller eras.
After Brohm went 36-34, Purdue has a chance to buck the aforementioned trend if Walters can continue the Boilermakers’ winning ways.
Was Walters Purdue’s No. 1 choice? We will never know. I can say this and it’s the truth, very few schools get their first choice when it comes to head coaches. Just ask Notre Dame when it hired Brian Kelly or IU with some of its basketball coaching searches.
Throughout the history of Purdue football, the university has taken a variety of approaches when hiring head coaches, and a majority failed.
It elevated assistant coaches like Bob DeMoss and Leon Burtnett.
It got the household “home run” hire in Fred Akers.
It got the hot coordinator in Jim Colletto.
It got the hot Mid-American Conference head coach in Darrell Hazell.
And yes, brought in a coach with head coaching experience that generated the response of “Who? From where?” When it hired some guy named Joe Tiller.
I will say this through the decades it has become obvious Purdue must have a creative offense to win in the Big Ten.
Jim Young threw it a lot with Mark Herrmann.
Burtnett had Scott Campbell and Jim Everett.
Tiller had Drew Brees and Kyle Orton.
Brohm had David Blough and Aidan O’Connell.
What does not work in West Lafayette is trying to line it up and play smash-mouth football with the likes of Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. Somewhat of a gimmick offense is a must.
If Colletto couldn’t win with Mike Alstott running the ball a lot, than the chances of winning with that traditional style of offense is slim and none.
All eyes will be on Walters and who he hires around him, particularly as offensive coordinator.
If he gets an innovating offensive coordinator who builds on Tiller’s “basketball on grass” and Brohm’s successes on that side of the ball, the momentum Purdue football has generated over the past six seasons will keep steamrolling.
What concerns Purdue faithful, and rightfully so, is how quick the positive football vibes can turn negative.
Brohm guided the Boilermaker program to four bowl appearances in six seasons, and as a result Ross-Ade Stadium was filled to 99 percent capacity this past season.
Next season’s schedule includes Fresno State, Virginia Tech and Syracuse in the nonconference, and oh Michigan and Ohio State return to the slate.
In 2024, USC and UCLA join the Big Ten, and Notre Dame returns to the nonconference schedule.
Walters will face a daunting schedule as most head football coaches at Purdue do.
He will have to recruit his brains out and coach with the best of them, too, to survive what he will face week in and week out.
No doubt Walters has a ton of work to do, including an early recruiting signing period of Dec. 21, trying to keep those players he wants from bolting and going out and filling voids through the transfer portal.
Is he the right man for the job? His on-field record will determine that. He’s young, high energy, known to be a good recruiter and has a knack for building elite defenses. That’s a good place to start. Isn’t it?
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