Report: Washington finalizing deal with former Purdue head coach Ryan Walters as defensive coordinator

Ryan Walters is sticking around the Big Ten after his time as Purdue’s head coach came to an end. Walters is working towards joining the Washington Huskies as their new defensive coordinator, according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.

“Washington is working toward finalizing a deal to hire former Purdue head coach Ryan Walters as its new defensive coordinator, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports,” Zenitz wrote on X. “Before Purdue, Walters was one of the nation’s top DCs at Illinois and Missouri and was a Broyles finalist in 2022.”

Purdue marked Walters’ first head coaching opportunity after a career as an assistant coach. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at Illinois, turning the Fighting Illini’s unit into one of the best in the country and was seen as a rising star in the profession. His buyout sat at $9.5 million, On3’s Pete Nakos reported.

Purdue went 4-8 in Walters’ first season at the helm in 2023, but the Boilermakers struggled mightily in Year 2. They moved on from offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and went 1-11 in a year that ended with a crushing 66-0 defeat at the hands of Indiana. Ultimately, the school decided to make a change at head coach, as well.

Walters, 38, played safety at Colorado and got his coaching start at his alma mater as a student assistant in 2009. He then became a graduate assistant at Arizona in 2010 and served as the defensive backs coach a year later. From there, Walters became a graduate assistant at Oklahoma in 2012 and had stints with North Texas and Memphis before arriving at Missouri as safeties coach in 2015.

Walters quickly rose up the ranks at Mizzou, moving to co-defensive coordinator from 2016-17 and defensive coordinator from 2018-20. That’s when he joined Bret Bielema’s staff at Illinois and turned the Fighting Illini around. In 2022, they ranked third in the nation with 273.5 yards allowed per game and led in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 12.8 points per game.

When Walters took over at Purdue, he brought in Graham Harrell to run the Air Raid offense. But the Boilermakers struggled, going from 380.3 yards per game in 2023 to 318.6 in 2024. Purdue also fell to last in the Big Ten with 17.2 points per game in 2024. That led Walters to make the mid-season coordinator change.

The Boilermakers also had a rough go on defense, ranking 16th in the Big Ten in 2023 and last in 2024 in total yards allowed. They also gave up the most points per game in the league each of Walters’ two seasons as head coach.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article.