Ryan Walters stresses need to recruit locally

This offseason, Ryan Walters left Illinois where he was the defensive coordinator to become the head coach at Purdue. He knows the Big Ten West well and the Boilermakers are hoping that Walters can help them take the next step forward.

As Walters explained during Big Ten Media Days, one of his biggest priorities is going to be to recruit well locally.

“In-state, the blueprint for success in any program, you’ve got to take care of your home state,” Ryan Walters said. “That is the makeup, the general core of the locker room that those guys will take pride in, in being from their home state and playing in front of their home crowd. That’s definitely priority number one.”

Through this point in the 2024 cycle, Purdue has the 25th-ranked recruiting class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. In that class, Purdue has 21 players committed, four of whom are from the state of Indiana, where the Boilermakers directly compete with the likes of Indiana and Notre Dame.

“So that was our main operative when we hit the recruiting trail, is to take care of home state first and then venture out to our footprint where we have connection to fill our roster that way as well.”

Along with recruiting well, Ryan Walters also knows that making the right hires is going to be important if he wants to get Purdue to the next level. That started with offensive coordinator Graham Harrell.

“Graham was a no-brainer. He’s been a home run thus far. Obviously, we haven’t played a down of competitive football, but I’ve been really impressed with his approach to teaching and to motivating, and holding everybody accountable on the offensive side,” Walters said.

A signature win for Ryan Walters in year one?

During an On3 Roundtable, Gold and Black’s Alan Karpick explained what game could end up being a signature win for Ryan Walters in year one.

“Well, I think they haven’t beaten Wisconsin since you were born if that’s right. I don’t know what your birth date is, but, actually, that’s probably not quite true. 2003 in Ross-Ade Stadium. Actually, that game was in Madison. 1997 at Ross-Ade Stadium. That’s a Friday night game, September 22nd. That will be maybe that first chance to pull a surprise. If he could somehow find a way to stem the tideway they way that one-sided rivalry has gone, that would be a huge one,” Karpick said.

“Obviously that it’s a tough schedule for Purdue this year. Michigan, Ohio State on the schedule this year. Ohio State at home on October the 14th. If they could pull another Tyler Trent game and Rondale Moore in 2018, that would be probably the upset of the college football season. But I don’t know if anybody expects that, but I think it’s really gonna be important for Purdue to get out of the box early and maybe that Friday night game.”