Purdue has fired coach Ryan Walters after two seasons, the school announced on Sunday. The Boilermakers finished their season with a 66-0 loss to rival Indiana on Saturday to finish the season 1-11 without a win against FBS competition. The loss dropped the Boilermakers to 5-19 throughout Walters' two seasons at the helm, including a mark of 3-15 in Big Ten play. CBS Sports first reported the news of Walters' firing on Sunday morning.
Walters was hired to replace Jeff Brohm prior to the 2024 season. He's spent the previous two seasons as defensive coordinator at Illinois and led one of the best defenses in the country in 2022, which helped the Illini go 8-5, their best season since winning nine games in 2007. Unfortunately, Walters was not able to bring that same defensive performance with him east to West Lafayette, Indiana.
In his two seasons, the Boilermakers allowed an average of 35.2 points per game and allowed at least 40 points in eight of 24 games. This season alone Purdue has played five games against teams likely to be selected for the College Football Playoff (Indiana, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State) and was outscored 261-17 in those five games.
It's a deficit that may have been more acceptable, but the Boilermakers didn't fare much better against the rest of their schedule, either. Of their 19 losses under Walters, only five came by fewer than two scores.
While the defense was a serious issue, there wasn't any success on the offensive side of the ball to offset it, either. Walters fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell earlier this season and took over playcalling duties on offense himself initially. While there was early success as the Boilermakers put up 49 points against Illinois in defeat, it was fleeting; they managed only 47 points in their final six games and were shut out three times.
Things were also deteriorating on the recruiting trail, as Purdue's 2025 recruiting class has recently suffered a wave of decommitments ahead of the Dec. 4 National Signing Day. The class is down to nine commitments and ranks 97th nationally in the 247Sports Composite, which is 36 spots lower than the next class in the Big Ten (Northwestern, 61st).
All in all, it's not a surprise this happened. Before the season began, the Boilermakers lost their best player on both sides of the ball in 2024 to the transfer portal. Wide receiver Deion Burks left for Oklahoma while edge rusher Nic Scourton transferred to Texas A&M. It's a sign that Walters didn't have the financial support necessary in the current landscape of college football to compete at the level Purdue hopes to compete at. It'll be interesting to see how Purdue handles that as they look to find a capable replacement this offseason.
Coach openings, 2024-25
| School | New coach | Previous Coach | Conference | Expected Salary Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | Mike Neu (fired) | Mid-American | ~600,000 | |
| Central Michigan | Jim McElwain (fired) | Mid-American | ~$1 million | |
| Charlotte | Biff Poggi (fired) | American Athletic | $1 million | |
| East Carolina | Blake Harrell (was interim) | Mike Houston (fired) | American Athletic | $2-3 million |
| Florida Atlantic | Tom Herman (fired) | American Athletic | $1 million | |
| Fresno State | Jeff Tedford (resigned) | Mountain West | $1-2 million | |
| Kennesaw State | Brian Bohannon (fired) | Conference USA | ~$500,000 | |
| North Carolina | Mack Brown (fired) | Atlantic Coast | $5 million | |
| Purdue | Ryan Walters (fired) | Big Ten | $4 million | |
| Rice | Scott Abell (Davidson) | Mike Bloomgren (fired) | American Athletic | $1 million |
| Southern Miss | Will Hall (fired) | Sun Belt | <$1 million | |
| Temple | Stan Drayton (fired) | American Athletic | $1-2 million | |
| Tulsa | Kevin Wilson (fired) | American Athletic | <$2 million | |
| UCF | Gus Malzahn (resigned) | Big 12 | $4 million | |
| UMass | Don Brown (fired) | Independent | <$1 million | |
| Utah State | Blake Anderson (fired) | Mountain West | $1-2 million |