Report: Purdue's Ryan Walters 'expected to get more time'
The 2024 Purdue season has not gone as planned, but Ryan Walters still may be back in 2025 for a third season.
Pete Thamel of ESPN wrote in a story posted today on ESPN.com that Walters is “expected to get more time.”
Wrote Thamel: “The administration there realizes it has been behind the Big Ten median in NIL and is expected to be supportive of helping Walters through the struggles of his early tenure.”
GoldandBlack.com has confirmed Thamel’s report. It’s believed the university brass is fully behind Walters and wants to see him succeed by offering needed support in an uber challenging Big Ten.
Walters is a young, first-time head coach still fitting into and learning the role who’s in just his second season. The last Boilermaker coach to work two years or less was Elmer Burnham (1942-43).
But Walters’ return is not guaranteed. He still could be dismissed at the end of the season if the program is non-competitive over the final five games.
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Purdue would owe its 38-year-old coach $9.3 million if the parties divorce after the 2024 season.
Writing a buyout check would be made more painful as Purdue and other schools begin sharing revenue with athletes to the tune of $22 million in 2025-26.
If Walters is back, he assuredly would have to alter his coaching staff.
Purdue (1-6 overall; 0-4 Big Ten) is off this week. It will take a six-game losing streak into its next game: at home on Nov. 2 vs. Northwestern.
The season already has had plenty of tumult. Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell was fired after four games. And the program suffered its worst loss in history in a 66-7 defeat vs. Notre Dame. Another odd twist: Walters—a defensive coordinator by trade—has taken over play-calling, a role he never has held at any point in his coaching career.
Walters is 5-14 overall at Purdue and 3-10 in the Big Ten. After arriving from Illinois following a successful two-year stint as defensive coordinator, Walters inherited a roster in disrepair after Jeff Brohm left to coach Louisville after the 2022 season.
