Purdue athletic director explains decision to fire Ryan Walters

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — Purdue announced the firing of head football coach Ryan Walters on Sunday.

Walters had gone 5-19 in two seasons with the Boilermakers, including a 1-11 season in 2024.

“It got to the point where I just no longer had the confidence that we could turn this thing around,” Purdue Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Bobinski said. “The sort of tidal wave of negative events and poor performances became overwhelming to the point where I’m not sure it’s fair to the program, it’s fair to Purdue, it’s fair to the young men in that locker room, or even the coaching staff to try to fight through the circumstances as they evolved.”

Bobinski said they want to make the hire as fast as possible with important offseason dates looming. National Signing Day for recruits is on Wednesday and the transfer portal opens on Monday.

They have been doing a lot of research in the past few weeks for potential candidates.

“We are well positioned to land a terrific new head coach and are working diligently and have been working diligently to that end,” Bobinski said.

Bobinski said the Purdue football head coaching job is a really good job. He said it’s well resourced and that Purdue will participate fully in the revenue sharing situation.

He said NIL was a challenge for them, but that’s going to change moving forward. He added that they need a coach that understands and embraces that.

Bobinski was the athletic director who hired Walters. He addressed the unsuccessful hire, saying every once in awhile things don’t work out the way you want them to. He said he is very confident moving forward.

Walters’ two years with the Boilermakers was the shortest tenure by a Purdue football head coach since Elmer Burnham from 1942-1943.

Before going to Purdue, Walters spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Illinois.