Washington Hires Former Purdue Coach Ryan Walters as Defensive Coordinator
Former Purdue football coach Ryan Walters has found his next job. On Friday, Washington announced that it will hire Walters as the team's next defensive coordinator.
Walters will join head coach Jedd Fisch in Seattle for the 2025 season. The Huskies are coming off a 6-7 campaign in 2024. Washington will enter its second year under Fisch.
"Today, Washington Football added a tremendous defensive coach and person to our program," Coach Fisch said, per the team's website. "Hiring Ryan Walters allows us to continue to build on the foundation of the 2024 defense while continuing to grow and improve. His experience in the Big Ten Conference was vital in this hire, along with having deep family ties in the Seattle area. Amber and I are excited to welcome Ryan, Tara and their two boys into our Husky Family."
Walters was the head coach at Purdue for the past two seasons. He was terminated following a disappointing 2024 campaign in which the Boilermakers finished 1-11. He was 5-19 in two years as a head coach.
Prior to arriving at Purdue, Walters was a hot commodity as a defensive coordinator. In 2022, he was the mastermind behind an Illinois defense that led the nation in points allowed per game, giving up just 12.8 per contest. The Illini also ranked third nationally in total defense and were ranked in the top-10 against the run and the pass that season.
Walters began his college coaching career in 2009, starting off as a student assistant at Colorado. He then worked at Arizona from 2010-11, beginning as a graduate assistant and earning a promotion to the defensive backs coach. Walters then had one-year stops at Oklahoma (2012), North Texas (2013) and Memphis (2014).
In 2015, Walters got a job at Missouri as a safeties coach. He then served as the Tigers' defensive coordinator from 2016-20 before joining Bret Bielema's Illinois staff in the same role in 2020.
Purdue is scheduled to make a trip to Seattle to play Washington on Saturday, Nov. 15.
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