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Pete ThamelESPN
INDIANAPOLIS — At the NFL combine last week, new Purdue coach Ryan Walters sat down with ESPN to discuss the energy jolt, challenges and changes inherent to taking over a new job. He’s living in Jeff Brohm’s old house — renting it from the school, which bought it — while laying the groundwork to upgrade Purdue.
Walters is adamant the job isn’t a rebuild, considering Purdue won 17 games the past two years and captured the Big Ten West last season. He’s bullish at what the job can become — “Why can’t you win at Purdue?” Walters dove in with ESPN on everything from the realities of NIL to what he learned from Bret Bielema to his high school QB crush on Drew Brees coming full circle and early impressions of quarterback Hudson Card.
ESPN: What’s the adjustment been like to the front-facing part of the job? You were in the spotlight before as a player, assistant and coordinator, but this has to be different.
Ryan Walters: It hasn’t been too much of an adjustment. I’ve always been either the point guard or the quarterback or the captain of the team. So it’s been comfortable for me to stand up and speak in front of people. I’m comfortable in my own skin. I’ve always been quietly confident. And so that part hasn’t been an adjustment. I think the part that’s been the biggest adjustment is just the lack of anonymity, people recognizing you now. Like you know, for me, I’m the same guy I was before I signed a piece of paper.
ESPN: Give me an example of that, please.
RW: Walking into a restaurant and it’s “Hey coach.” I’ve taken a thousand pictures, which is fun and flattering, you have to be very aware of your surroundings, and it’s just a little bit of adjusting. Nobody really talks about that part about being a coach. You get prepared for the fact that your phone is going to blow up. And it’s going to be really hard to say no to people that you highly regard and respect in this profession. But nobody, nobody prepped me for all the pictures being taken.
ESPN: I know your family hasn’t moved yet, but any spots that you’ve found in West Lafayette?
RW: There’s a few spots that I’ve found. The East End Grill is awesome. They’ve got great food there. The Tap is awesome. RedSeven is awesome.
ESPN: Is there a sandwich or burger named after you yet?
RW: Not yet. I gotta win some games first.
ESPN: Let’s go back chronological here. Your dad was a player at Colorado when you were growing up, and those were your formative years. What are some of your earliest memories?
RW: I remember watching my dad at practice and remember running around the locker room and all the guys that were affiliated with that team. I just ran into Vance Joseph in the lobby, and he gave me a big hug. He said, “Hey, me and Eric Bieniemy are having dinner tonight. You should come hang out.” Those guys are all still tight. Alfred Williams, I talk to on a regular basis. Just that camaraderie is kind of what I, what I remember. You go through a career and you are a part of teams that were successful and they had that same type of camaraderie and teams that I’ve been a part of that weren’t successful, they didn’t have that. And so that is definitely an atmosphere and a chemistry that I’m trying to create.
ESPN: I’ve always felt like a million small decisions from a head coach help form the identity of a team. Nearly three months into this job, what are some early and intentional things you’ve done to help shape the new identity of Purdue football?
RW: I got hired at an awkward time. There’s still a staff in place. There’s still a [bowl] game to be played and still practices to be had. And so I’m there, but not really there. I’m at practice, but I’m not involved in practice. So what I really did was, I dove into what was going on off the field. … I dove into the different departments that were touching the kids every day and making sure that their vision was the same as mine. We’ve made changes to the heads of certain departments. We’ve changed some of the way the players’ scholarship money is calculated [cost of attendance, etc.]. I know what we were getting at Illinois, and at Purdue the players were getting far less. And so, we just looked at the why’s and where it ranked within the Big Ten. And we were able to make changes to where guys are getting about $800 more a month.
ESPN: You hired Kiero Small as your director of strength and conditioning. He’s worked under Tank Wright at Illinois, and both are disciples of Michigan’s Ben Herbert, who was under Bret Bielema at Wisconsin and Arkansas. What have you seen so far?
RW: I think those three guys are the best in the business and for us, we thought it was important to give Kiero eight weeks of workouts. If you think about it, when you’re getting ready for a season, you got eight weeks in the summer, and then you hit fall camp. I know there’s different philosophies of why you start spring ball when you do it. But for me personally, in our program, I want to get guys ready to go play football before you start playing football. And so Kiero made great strides with our guys. They’re in shape right now. For Kiero to have eight weeks to work with the guys to get ’em prepared for five weeks of spring ball is going to be huge for us moving forward.
ESPN: We’ve seen Hudson Card in snapshots at Texas. You’ve probably only seen him in workouts. What are your first impressions?
RW: What I’ve seen so far is what you would hope to see from a high caliber quarterback. He has put his head down and gone to work. He’s way more athletic than you think. And people in the program give him credit for being very cerebral and just picking up the playbook. He’s got a calm, confident, poise to him, and that’s what you want in a quarterback. So it’ll be interesting to see this spring, him battle it out with the rest of the quarterbacks on the roster. From what I’ve seen, he’s as advertised, if not more. And I’m excited about his future at Purdue.
ESPN: Can’t do a Q&A with the new Purdue coach without a Drew Brees question. I know you both appeared on ESPN’s “College GameDay” before the bowl game. Had you interacted with him much before getting the job?
RW: I played quarterback in high school. And so I’m a sophomore in high school and I’m starting varsity quarterback at Grandview High School [in Colorado]. And my family is all from Los Angeles originally. And so we would go home to L.A. every break we had. Christmas vacation, we’re in Los Angeles, we go to Disneyland and Drew is there for the Rose Bowl parade. And I’m looking at him, I’m like, that’s Drew. Like that is exactly who I want to be. That’s what I want to do. And then you fast-forward, and then after my press conference when I get hired, I get a phone call and it’s Drew Brees! I’m like … this is Drew Brees calling me! You know? So it definitely came full circle. But he’s been awesome. He’s definitely very proud of the brotherhood that is Boilermaker nation and is an advocate for Purdue. He has been awesome just as an ambassador and very available.
ESPN: There’s been roughly 100 days, not quite, since you were hired. What’s that time been like?
RW: It hasn’t been as hectic or chaotic as I think people might think. And I think it’s just because of the fact that I’ve been prepared, and I’ve been mentored and tutored by some people that have had success. You know, I give a lot of credit to Bret Bielema and what he was able to pour into me and how he allowed me to grow at Illinois. He knew what kind of goals and aspirations I had, and he took time out of his day to [mentor me]. And so, you know, that is, that is something I will forever be appreciative of. Things like roster decisions, staff decisions you know, personnel and department heads. He would bring me in and say, “You know, these are the issues I’m having. This is how you have to think about this.” And a lot of times he would, he would draw back to his days with Barry Alvarez. When I first met Barry Alvarez at the Big Ten coaches meetings, I felt like I knew him because I’d heard so much about him.
ESPN: You’ve been bullish here about what Purdue can become. Is this a place you believe you can build into a national title contender down the road?
RW: I do. I think it’s going to be hard work and it’s going to be a lot of commitment from the various individuals that are associated with the program. I think it’s got a chance to be a really special place.
I’m not going to sit here and be shy about the fact that NIL is real. And we got some catching up to do in that aspect. But if you look at the academic resources you have, you look at the conference that you’re in, the facilities, you look at the location … you’ve got high level talent that is near this place. Why can’t you win at Purdue? Like, why not? I think with the administrative support and campus support for the program and a commitment and a fan base that is, is going to back you a hundred percent. I think if you get the right people in place with the right resources, why not? I think in the state of Indiana, high school football is underrated. And this 2024 class is really, really special in the state. And we’ve got a chance to get a number of those guys on campus. If they stay home, watch out.