Purdue fires coach Ryan Walters after just two seasons. Here’s why.

Ryan Walters was fired Sunday as head coach after a 1-11 season, a source confirmed to IndyStar. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was first to report. The Boilermakers were 5-19 in his two years as coach, with only three victories over Big Ten opponents. 

More than the losses, the nature of the losing pushed Walters out early. The season ended with a 66-0 loss at Indiana in the Old Oaken Bucket game. Not only was it the Boilermakers’ most lopsided loss in series history, they managed only 67 yards and five first downs against IU’s 66 points and nine touchdowns.

The Hoosiers are likely headed for the College Football Playoff with an 11-1 record. Purdue seeks its third coach in four seasons.

Purdue opened the season with a 49-0 victory over FCS program Indiana State. Then came a 66-7 home loss to Notre Dame, the largest margin of defeat in program history — which was later bested by what IU did to Purdue on Saturday. 

Walters fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell after four games, but the performance remained poor. 

Walters, who started the year calling the defense, took over the offensive play calling himself following a 52-6 loss at Wisconsin. With backup quarterback Ryan Browne making his first career start at Illinois on Oct. 12, Purdue came back from a 24-point deficit to take the lead in the final minute of regulation. Illinois won 50-49 in overtime when it scored first and kicked a point after, then stopped the Boilermakers’ 2-point try after their touchdown. 

That performance created some optimism the team could build some momentum going into its second idle week of the season. However, it never threatened No. 2 Oregon in a 35-0 home loss. The beatdowns kept coming: 45-0 at Ohio State, 49-10 to Penn State.

Even in competitive losses to opponents in the lower half of the Big Ten — 26-20 in overtime to Northwestern, 24-17 at Michigan State — Purdue made too many mistakes at crucial moments. It never scored a first-quarter touchdown or took an offensive snap with the lead against an FBS opponent.

If fired without cause, Purdue owes Walters 75% of his base compensation through the end of the contract in 2027. That comes to $9.3375 million for the 2025-2027 seasons.  

Walters becomes the shortest-tenured non-interim Purdue head coach since Elmer Burnham coached 18 games in 1942-43. (Ironically, Bunrham improved from 1-8 to 9-0 in Year 2.) With a .208 winning percentage he is one of only two Boilermaker coaches in the modern era to win less than 30% of his games, joining Darrell Hazell (.214) and Fred Akers (.284). 

Purdue went 4-8 in Walters’ first season. Its biggest losses, however, came after the season. Star edge rusher Nic Scourton (Texas A&M) and leading receiver Deion Burks (Oklahoma) transferred elsewhere and received bigger name, image and likeness income deals than Purdue could match. 

The Boilermakers responded with a large incoming transfer class. However, most of those additions have either been injured or have not been difference-makers on the field. 

Walters’ predecessor, Jeff Brohm, went 46-35 in six seasons, winning 17 of those games in his final two seasons. That included the program’s first appearance in the Big Ten championship game in 2022. In a move always considered an eventuality, Brohm left after that season to become head coach at Louisville, his alma mater. 

To succeed him, Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski hired a 36-year-old first time head coach. Walters had risen in the industry after successful defensive coordinator stints at Missouri and Illinois. Brohm’s own respect for Walters’ work had first put the young coach on Bobinski’s radar. 

The hire departed from historical Purdue norms, in that Walters came from a defensive background. Bobinski invested in Walters’ long-term potential. 

‘At the end of the day, it was about hiring the person we thought was the very best for us,’ Bobinski said. ‘I think we’ve hired the person with the absolute highest ceiling out of everybody we talked to.’ 

Less than two years later, Purdue must rebuild from the ground up.