Ryan Walters

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. 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.

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).

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.