Purdue football coach Ryan Walters, assistants address the National Football Foundation Tiller Chapter
Purdue football coach Ryan Walters took time Sunday afternoon to address a group of fans and members of the Joe Tiller Chapter of the National Football Foundation at Bruno’s Pizza and Big O’s Sportsroom in West Lafayette.
The new coach covered various topics including his recruiting philosophy and plan, NIL and transfer portal opportunities and much more. In addition, most of his assistant coaches were in attendance and took time to introduce themselves. . The new Boilermaker boss, who has been on the job for just over two months, spent over an hour addressing the group.
He talked about the interview process with Purdue, what that process was like, and why the Purdue job was so attractive.
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“I knew a lot about his side of the Big Ten conference (the West Division,” said Walters, who served as defensive coordinator at Illinois the past two seasons. “I knew that we had trouble defending against Purdue, and that was one of the places we struggled defensively, but now that problem has been eliminated because I am here and they (Coach Jeff Brohm and staff) are gone.”
That brought a laugh from the crowd of around 150 people.
It was an opportunity to learn more about the assistant coaches, their backgrounds and their families. Walters wasn’t reticent to share his aspirations for his two children.
“My hope was that when they get older, and people ask them where they’re from they will be able to say they are from West Lafayette,” Walters said. “So in order to do that, we have to win games, we have to win championships. And that’s exactly why we’re here.
We’re not going to apologetic about the type of success that we want to have and how we go about doing it. And that doesn’t happen without support from people like yourselves.”
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Walters talks NIL, Transfer Portal and Brees
Walters was asked about the importance of having Drew Brees involved with the program and what that has been like for him to be around the legendary quarterback. Walters relayed the story he told about seeing Brees at Disneyland when Purdue was at the Rose Bowl in December 2000. He admitted it was ‘cool’ to have Brees on speed dial now.
On the transfer portal and NIL, Walters sees it as a unique opportunity for him and his young staff. The reason? Because his staff might be more open to change due to hits relative youth and limited experience.
“I think we’re more equipped to handle these challenges and these changes,” Walters said.”If you’ve been doing something for 20 years, and the policy changes, it can be hard to change or adapt. For somebody just walking into a company, and policy changes occur, you are better equipped to embrace that change and figure it out. You can find a way to thrive. Yes, there are challenges, but I see them as opportunities.”
There is much more in the 37-minute video below including comments from all the assistant coaches and staff members in attendance.
Special thanks to Max Bales for serving as iPhone videographer
