Purdue hired Ryan Walters to keep a promising program in the Big Ten Conference.
Two years later, the Boilermakers were in unprecedented trouble and Walters was out of a job.
Athletic director Mike Bobinski fired his first head coach Sunday after a brutal 1-11 season in which the Boilermakers made all the wrong kinds of history, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press. .
They lost their final 11 games to set a school single-season record, endured two of the most lopsided losses in program history, went winless in conference play for the third time since 1946, and defeated an FBS opponent for the first time since 2013. Didn’t win. It is only the second in the modern era of college football.
Even for a program like Purdue, which rarely fires a coach this quickly, it was too much to ignore.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been announced.
Walters replaced Jeff Brohm after Purdue’s 2022 Big Ten West Division title run, which ended in a Big Ten championship game loss to the playoff-bound Michigan Wolverines.
But things unraveled quickly for Walters.
The sixth-youngest coach in the FBS lost his first game to Fresno State and has lost four in a row after getting off to a 2-3 start. A 17-plus third point began a trend that continued into his second season and ultimately sealed his fate.
Purdue was expected to finish last in the expanded 18-team Big Ten this year, but that complete collapse came despite a brutal schedule that included four contests against top-five teams, including a 66-0 rout of rival Indiana on Saturday. Few people expected it.
“It’s the worst performance I’ve ever seen offensively. We couldn’t do anything,” Walters said later. “I never thought this would happen. We’ve had a good week of practice, but playing against a top 10 team shows how far we have to go.”
It wasn’t just the losses, it was how they were defeated.
Purdue gave up 21 points at the time. 18 Notre Dame stormed over the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first half and handed them a 66-7 loss, the most lopsided loss in school history at the time. The Boilermakers suffered their third shutout on Saturday, losing by more than 35 points for the sixth time while gaining 67 total yards.
Even competitive games failed. Walters took a risky gamble to win in double overtime. Both failed and Michigan State lacked a second-half comeback.
Fans who continued to appear at home games drew the ire of fans who saw this.
“There’s a play right there,” Walters said shortly before Ohio State’s 45-0 loss. “We have to find a way to break through in those moments to capitalize on those types of plays, and we will do that.”
But they didn’t.
How bad has it gotten?
When the student section at a Purdue basketball game began chanting for Walters’ firing, school administrators threatened to expel and ban anyone who sang about the football coach’s job status from future games.
Behind it all, there was also an awareness of chaos. Walters fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell after just 16 games in his tenure and turned play-calling duties over to longtime Indianapolis prep coach Jason Simmons, who was in his second season coaching at the college level. Walters, who has spent his entire coaching career on college defense, began calling offensive plays in Week 7 when Purdue lost 52-6 at Wisconsin.
That didn’t work either.
Just retaining players became a problem.
Starting cornerback Markevious Brown left the team before the Wisconsin game for personal reasons and did not return. Purdue recruits began to become more and more committed as the losses piled up.
Purdue Boilermakers vs. No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers Highlights | Fox CFB
Naturally, calls for Walters’ ouster grew louder. So Bobinski finally ended Walters’ term on Sunday. Purdue owes Walters three seasons on his original five-year contract, which will cost the school about $9.5 million.
Walters won both of Purdue’s trophy games in 2023 and lost both in 2024, but finished his career with a 3-15 mark in league games without a bowl appearance and 5-19 overall.
What’s next for the Boilermakers remains unclear.
Walters arrived at Purdue after spending the past two seasons as defensive coordinator for Illinois coach Brett Bielema. He moved from quarterback to safety while attending his father’s alma mater, Colorado, and immediately began his coaching career when his playing days ended in 2008.
The Associated Press reported.
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