Purdue hired Ryan Walters to keep a promising program near the top of the Big Ten Conference.
Two years later, the Boilermakers find themselves sunk to unprecedented depths — and Walters is out of a job.
Athletic director Mike Bobinski fired the first-time head coach on Sunday, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press, following a brutal 1-11 season in which the Boilermakers made all the wrong kinds of history.
They lost their final 11 games to set the school’s single season record, endured the two most lopsided losses in program history, went winless in conference play for only the third time since 1946 and failed to beat an FBS opponent for the first time since 2013 and the second time in college football’s modern era.
It was simply too much to ignore even for a program like Purdue, which rarely fires coaches this quickly.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been announced.
Walters replaced Jeff Brohm after Purdue’s 2022 Big Ten West Division title run, which ended with a Big Ten championship game loss to the playoff-bound Michigan Wolverines.
But things unraveled quickly for Walters.
The FBS’ sixth-youngest coach lost his first game to Fresno State, started 2-3, then lost four in a row — three by 17 or more points to start a trend that continued through his second season and ultimately sealed his fate.
While Purdue was projected to finish last in this year’s expanded 18-team Big Ten, few expected such a complete collapse — even despite a brutal schedule that included four contests against top-five teams including Saturday’s 66-0 blowout at rival Indiana.
“That’s the worst performance, offensively, I’ve ever seen. We couldn’t do anything,” Walters said afterward. “I didn’t see this coming. We had a good week of practice, but when we play top-10 teams, we see how far we still have to go.”
It wasn’t just the losses — it was how they lost.
Purdue gave up 21 points to then-No. 18 Notre Dame in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first half, a flurry that led to what then was the most lopsided loss in school history, 66-7. The Boilermakers suffered their third shutout Saturday, losing for the sixth time by 35 or more points while gaining just 67 total yards.
Even the competitive games went awry. Walters took risky gambles in two overtime games by playing for the win. Both failed, and at Michigan State, their second-half comeback fell short.
The fans who kept showing up for home games grew exasperated by what they saw.
“There are plays that are right there,” Walters said just before a 45-0 loss at Ohio State. “We’ve got to find a way to break through in those moments to capitalize on those types of plays, and we will.”
But they did not.
How bad did things get?
When the student section at a Purdue basketball game started chanting for Walters’ firing, school administrators threatened to remove anyone caught chanting about the football coach’s job status and banning them from future games.
Behind the scenes, there was a perception of chaos, too. Walters fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell just 16 games into his tenure, turning over the play-calling duties to Jason Simmons, a longtime Indianapolis prep head coach who was in just his second season coaching at the college level. When Purdue responded with a 52-6 loss at Wisconsin, Walters, who spent his entire coaching career working with college defenses, started calling the offensive plays in Week 7.
That didn’t work either.
Just keeping players on board became problematic, too.
Starting cornerback Markevious Brown left the team for personal reasons before the Wisconsin game and did not return. Purdue recruits increasingly started decommitting as the losses piled up.
Naturally, the cries for Walters’ ouster grew into a crescendo. So Bobinski finally ended Walters’ tenure on Sunday. Purdue still owes Walters for three seasons on his original five-year deal, costing the school roughly $9.5 million.
Walters finished his career with a 5-19 mark overall, going 3-15 in league play with no bowl appearances, though he did win both of Purdue’s trophy games in 2023 — and lost both in 2024.
What’s next for the Boilermakers remains unclear.
Walters arrived at Purdue after spending the previous two seasons as defensive coordinator for Illinois coach Bret Bielema.
He attended his father’s alma mater, Colorado, moving from quarterback to safety and immediately began his coaching career when his playing days ended in 2008. His coaching stops included Colorado, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Texas, Memphis and Missouri.
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