Ryan Walters 'excited' about NIL situation for Purdue
Ryan Walters gets it. He knows his Purdue debut season hasn’t gone as expected.
“I get people are frustrated and disappointed as are we, right?” said Walters. “We’re frustrated and disappointed. … As a fan, you get frustrated.”
The Boilermakers (3-8 overall; 2-6 Big Ten) get one last shot to taste victory in 2023 when they kick off on Saturday at noon ET on BTN vs. Indiana (3-8; 1-7) in Ross-Ade Stadium in a battle for the Old Oaken Bucket.
“I feel like this fan base is sort of that way where they see what’s happening on the field,” said Walters. “We’re in tight ball games. We have hit the injury bug like nobody’s business. You are dealing with brand new schemes, offense, defense, special teams.
“Still, no excuses, right? There are plenty of games out there where I feel like we should have won, and that falls on my shoulders. But I do think that we are continuing to improve as a program and the way we’re running things.”
Woulda, shoulda, coulda.
Purdue lost by four to Fresno State (39-35), six to Iowa (20-14) and eight to Northwestern (23-15).
“I promise you we’re going to win a lot of games,” said Walters. “I promise you that our coaching staff is going to hit the recruiting trail tough and precise, and we’re starting to get the support we need from a resource standpoint.”
It was poignant that Walter mentioned he’s starting to get enhanced resources to build his program. Earlier this month on his radio show, he compared Purdue’s NIL situation to the rest of the Big Ten.
“If it is a tiered system in terms of the Big Ten and what people have available in the collective, we’re in the bottom tier,” said Walters.
It appears that comment has struck a chord with supporters of the Boilermaker Alliance, the NIL collective associated with Purdue. Is the Boilermaker boss happy with how things currently sit with Boilermaker Alliance?
“There are some things that are happening as we speak,” said Walters. “Yeah, I’m excited.”
Having a lush NIL collective is a key to building a quality roster, especially when it comes to attracting talent from the transfer portal which will open from December 4, 2023 to January 3, 2024.
A strong collective also is needed to retain top talent. That’s something recently fired Syracuse coach Dino Babers pointed out earlier this fall.
“It’s the same old thing: Depth is gone,” said Babers. “Our depth is in the transfer portal. You know how many guys we lost. You know what schools they play at. Schools like us, we’re not going to have a lot of depth because it gets bought away.”
Last year, Purdue imported 19 players from the portal and saw 24 leave.
What will Walters be looking for in the portal next month?
“Obviously, I think we need to get bigger up front offensively,” said Walters. “I would anticipate us going to get a couple of transfer portal wide receivers. Defensively, we lose two interior D-linemen. I would anticipate us addressing that. Also, it kind of depends who is coming back, as well, on what holes we’ll need to fill.
“Like I said, we’ve gotten some donor support lately. I’m excited about the resources we have to be able to address the needs we have.”
But for now, Walters is focused on beating Indiana.
“You don’t ever want to end the season on a loss, so I think positivity going into the offseason,” said Walters.
“You know, one more time to play in front of Ross–Ade and take care of the home field and to win an in-state rival, and it’s a trophy game. To keep a trophy would definitely be a positive moving into the offseason.”
MORE: First Look: Indiana | Gold and Black Radio: Purdue moves on to Bucket game | First and 10: Indiana at Purdue
