What to do about Ryan Walters…

The embattled Boilermaker football coach is on the hottest of seats in college football right now

Ask most any fan of the Purdue Boilermakers about their opinion of the state of the football program and you’ll likely get a scowl, a wince of pain, or a deep sigh that expresses a wide range of emotions. Disgust, indifference, dissatisfaction, skepticism, and a host of other emotions that don’t show a lot of trust in the program. That goes beyond the football program as fans have moved on from their exasperated pleas for a better product on the field directly towards AD Mike Bobinski.

Here, see for yourself what some fans who have spent their Saturdays at Ross Ade this season think:

“If Bobinski and Co. are going to blind themselves from the results in the field then I don’t see the need to attend Ross-Ade or frankly even watch on television. It’s hard enough for me to watch half the season anyways with my prior commitments, so if they’re not going to put forth an effort to make the on-field product better then I’m just going to stop watching.” – Purdue Alumni & former AAMB member

“They’ve received a lifeline from the B1G with this lucrative media deal and they’re pinching their pennies like they’re some broke ass MAC team.” – Purdue Alumni & Former AAMB member

“We kept Hazell for 3.5 miserable years. This is as bad of a product if not worse than that. I won’t spend a dime of my money on this program going forward as long as this current staff is in place.” – Former High School Head Football Coach in Indiana

“Purdue has the best fans. Look at basketball, look at volleyball, and look at the support the football team got this year even when they were terrible. Purdue fans deserve better. Get somebody who can win and watch the money flow. That’s how Purdue works. Look at how the basketball team does with the NIL and how successful they have been. They took a risk on Walters. It seemed worth it, but it failed. Go get a current head coach that can bring in transfers. That’s exactly what Cignetti did, and it immediately made them competitive. Do that same thing. Back up the Brinks truck to the Tulane coach [Jon Sumrall] and Purdue could actually be competitive next year.” – Twitter user @stick1505

“Purdue will not get a dime from me. I will come on gamedays to support the All American Marching Band (who deserves your time and support). I will park off campus, I will go to Slayter for the band, and then I’ll leave. Ross-Ade can be a ghost town if this is what Bobinski wants.” – Purdue Alumni & former AAMB member

“LOL @BoilerFootball hid my comment about not renewing season tickets next year. Congrats @PurdueSports – just disbanded my JPC @JohnPurdueClub membership, as well! Go Ryan Walters! Go Mike Bobinski! Go 1-11 Purdue Football! I will take my donations elsewhere in 2025. – Twitter user @DavidErnestkag

“This team on paper should be talented enough to fight for bowl Eligibility. They can’t even score on offense. He can’t fix this. Even if you argue it’s too soon to say, you can’t even argue that he’s done anything to earn himself that right.” – Twitter user @WandasAbed

If it wasn’t obvious from the bags on the heads of multiple fans at the final home game against Penn State along with the ‘Fire Walters’ chants that have broken out at not only football games but basketball games, the multitude of very public opinions from meaningful fans shows they have lost confidence in the second year head coach. It isn’t just the bumbling of side line and post game interviews that is causing the fans to turn on Walters though. It is the atrocious product he has been responsible for the last two seasons.

This season has been one of the worst seasons of football that we have seen from a Purdue team since Darrell Hazell’s first season in West Lafayette. That season played out very similarly to 2024 where the only victory was against Indiana State, the offense was an abject disaster, and the defense couldn’t do a lot of the fundamental things necessary to be successful. Seems to be a common theme when many knew, following that first year, that Hazell was in over his head immediately.

In fact, Purdue is now catching strays from the national media about how poor their team is this season and that it shouldn’t impact their standing in the CFP too much. Is this really what Purdue has become? The butt of jokes for the national media to use to gauge futility? If it wasn’t for Kent State being, well, Kent State this season, Purdue may actually be getting more attention (for information, Kent State went 0-12 and their current head coach is now 1-23 in his two seasons. His one victory came against an FCS team).

Some who haven’t watched Purdue may look at the record and the schedule and believe that it can’t be that bad, right? Those people may say, ‘Yes, 1-10 is bad but when the program has played #1 Oregon, #2 Ohio State, #4 Penn State, #5 Notre Dame, and #23 Illinois while prepping for #10 Indiana, what could you have expected?’ Being competitive is what is expected and Purdue has largely not been that for the entire season after the 49-0 win against Indiana State.

Purdue has also lost to Oregon State (5-6), Nebraska (6-5), Wisconsin (5-6), Northwestern (4-7), and Michigan State (5-6). In those five losses, Purdue was non-competitive in three of them while losing at home to an awful Northwestern team in overtime. Yes, the schedule has been difficult but there are six wins plus the overtime loss to Illinois that a competent coaching staff could have gotten this team to a bowl game. So how bad can this staff be then?

Let’s take a look at how Purdue ranks nationally and inside the B1G in major categories:

Do these reflect a coach in his second year seemingly making improvements to a program? Do these provide evidence that Ryan Walters can provide the football program with an identity beyond biting his lip in a car during commitments and walking around in a muscle shirt on game days? The flash and attitude works when you win. Google it, like Indiana Hoosiers Head Coach Curt Cignetti suggested. Walters has stated he is going to take a step back from play calling duties to provide leadership in a more managerial capacity. Do those numbers and the product on the field show a coach capable of the leadership, vision, and decision making to get the team to bowl eligibility?

Walters was a splashy hire made by Athletic Director Mike Bobinski in the wake of one of the games best offensive minds leaving campus. Walters, as it has been said, made an impression on those at Purdue during the hiring process. His defense appeared to give him an edge in an era where offenses are evolving and becoming more explosive. It seemed like Purdue had found someone who may have answers to that in a unique in a similar fashion to Joe Tiller having an answer offensively for those big, physical defenses in the mid-90’s of B1G football.

That has, so far, provided no returns in the wake of improving a program that is just 23 months removed from an appearance in the B1G Championship Game and an 8-4 regular season. Walters joins Darrell Hazell, Bob Demoss, Alex Agase, and Leon Burnett to lose more games in their first year than their predecessor did in their final year at Purdue. Those aren’t exactly stellar names to be aligned with since those coaches are a combined 61-110 and none of them closer than Bob Demoss’ five games under .500%.

So again, I’ll ask the question: What has Ryan Walters done in his time as a defensive coordinator and head coach that shows he has the ability to turn this around and improve the program to a place where bowl eligibility is the standard and not a surprise. Joe Tiller, Danny Hope, and Jeff Brohm all did that early on in their coaching careers at Purdue and showed that sustained success at Purdue is possible with the right skills and leadership.

The AD may be more concerned and gotten themselves wrapped up in what MIGHT happen next year rather than concentrating on what is staring them right in the face today. Yes, revenue sharing with the players is a big jump to take next season and that may very well be making every AD hesitant to pull the trigger on their head coaches. It may be why more coordinators are being fired this season but that doesn’t mean Purdue should simply swim with the current. That’s not what has made Purdue successful in their major sports.

There may not be another opportunity as big for Purdue as there is right now to get a hire correct. Currently, there is just one job open in the power conferences with the recent announcement out of North Carolina. That is a job that is higher on the pecking order due to location and traditionally being a stronger program, but Purdue is in the B1G and is about to get an absurd amount of money from their television rights deals.

To support that, Purdue has a uniquely devout fanbase that has been built through the fires of harsh defeats. A fanbase that continues to show up to Ross Ade Stadium when the team is 1-10 and so badly wants to see a team that is competitive, fundamentally sound, and plays hard. Unfortunately, with what has been shown the last two years, it appears as though fans may very well stay away from the stadium in the fall until Ryan Walters proves it. And again, what evidence do we have that tells us he is capable to do that?

The fanbase deserves better than a return to what we saw with Darrell Hazell when it was abundantly clear he was over his head at Purdue. Even then, you could point to improvements that Hazell had made with records of 1-11, 3-9, 2-10, and 3-3 before he was fired. It should be an easy decision for Mike Bobinski to make considering Purdue lost to what should be considered their equals in the B1G this season. It should be an easy decision if one is willing to admit they made a mistake and correct course to get it right.

Mike Bobinski was handed an absolute dumpster fire when he took over as AD and he was able to hit an absolute home run by hiring Jeff Brohm. If his concerns are saddling the next AD with a coach that he may not want, that AD can handle that when the time comes. You simply cannot allow this to continue for fear of what may or may not happen with the evidence we have been provided. That evidence is clear. Purdue needs to move on from Ryan Walters.