Purdue intends to fire Ryan Walters after his second season atop the Boilermakers football program, 247Sports and CBS Sports confirmed. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the coaching change. Walters oversaw two losing seasons since his arrival in West Lafayette, and with Saturday’s 66-0 loss in the rivalry game against Indiana, his squad finished the 2024 campaign with a 1-11 record and no wins against FBS opponents. The Walters era concludes at 5-19 overall and 3-15 in Big Ten play.
This year’s record is Purdue’s worst since it posted an identical 1-11 mark in 2013. That was also the last time the Boilermakers finished a season without a Big Ten win. Their lone win this fall came in the season opener when they defeated FCS opponent Indiana State in a 49-0 blowout. That game tied a season-high in scoring and marked the Boilermakers’ best defensive performance of the year.
Walters arrived ahead of the 2023 season as the replacement for Jeff Brohm, who left that year to take the head coaching job at Louisville. Purdue saw its win total cut in half in the first season under Walters’ direction as it missed the postseason with just four victories. Walters did not attain bowl eligibility in either of his two seasons at the helm.
“We’ve had a lot of adversity this season, starting after the Nebraska game,” Walters said after Saturday’s loss to Indiana. “You couple adverse moments with some inexperience and the type of opponents that we’re playing, it can be hard to have success. But that is my job to figure out and find ways to be creative and do so.”
Walters made an adjustment on his staff earlier in the year when he fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell amid the team’s prolonged struggles on that side of the ball. Purdue finished the regular season at No. 130 nationally in total offense with its 273.5 yards per game, ahead of only Northwestern, Florida State, Kennesaw State and Kent State. The Boilermakers scored more than 20 points just once in the eight games following Harrell’s firing.
Purdue’s 1-11 record ties that of Southern Miss for the second-worst mark in the FBS this season, better only than Kent State’s winless record. The Boilermakers won fewer games than any other team in the Power Four.
Walters lost momentum on the recruiting trail, as well, amid the program’s struggles. Eight prospects decommitted from Purdue this calendar year, with all but one of them backing off their pledges to the Boilermakers during the season. The program now holds just nine commitments and ranks No. 97 nationally for the 2025 cycle.
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Purdue becomes the third Power Four school to open a head coaching position after North Carolina fired Mack Brown and Gus Malzahn resigned from UCF.
