Ryan Walters using last place in media poll as fuel for Boilermakers
Purdue Coach Ryan Walters watches a play unfold during the fourth quarter against Iowa Saturday October 7, 2023 at Kinnick Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue’s second-year coach took the podium at Big Ten Media Days Tuesday afternoon, and was eager to clear the airwaves regarding his team’s upcoming season.
After all, the Boilermakers are coming off a disappointing 4-8 campaign, which was their most losses since 2019. To make matters worse the Big Ten Media Preseason poll came out on Monday, and Purdue was dead last at 18, which is lower than where the team was in 2023.
Walters didn’t shy away from his disgust of the whole situation, and how his players are taking it. The last thing he wants is a team distraction, so Walters is making it a priority to kill all of the outside noise as Purdue approaches fall camp.
“As much as you try not to read things and opinions of your program, yourself or your players, you still hear it,” Walters said. “If you’re not reading it, your folks are, your friends are, or it gets back to you, so I’d be naive not to address it with the team, and not talk about the elephant in the room.”
The Boilermakers lost five of their final seven games, and there hasn’t been much buzz surrounding the team because of it. However, Walters did sign Purdue’s best recruiting class in recent memory this past February, and in his mind everything is trending up.
Quarterback Hudson Card has a ton of experience, and that should help out a lot in year two. Walters himself wants to be more involved in the play-calling this fall after the shortcomings on both sides of the ball. He has one of the best defensive minds in todays game, but Purdue finished 67th nationally in total defense.
If Walters is planning on adding more victories this fall, the defense has to make strides. To make matters worse is the fact that the Big Ten has expanded, and Walters will have a slimmer margin for error this time around. Still, he embraces the challenges, and plans on surprising some people around the league.
It remains to be seen if Walters is going to put the Big Ten’s predicted order of finish in the locker room to motivate the team, but he’s definitely going to use the lack of recognition for something. He’s still learning on the job, and is one of the youngest coaches in the conference. Walters takes pride in proving his doubters wrong, and having success this upcoming season will be one step towards accomplishing some of those goals.
Everyone is on the same page, and understands the task at hand. Now it’s all about the Boilermakers going into fall camp, and proving to the rest of the Big Ten that they belong, despite no receiving no recognition.
“I did mention a large chip on everybody’s shoulder in that building, and 18 out of 18 is a large reason why.”
