Ryan Walters

Ryan Walters (born January 21, 1986) is an American football coach and former safety, who is the current head football coach for the Purdue Boilermakers. He played college football for Colorado from 2004 to 2008. He then served as the defensive coordinator for the Missouri Tigers (2018–2020) and the Illinois Fighting Illini (2021–2022). Walters was born in Los Angeles, California. His father, Marc, was a quarterback for Colorado. He attended Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado. After graduation from high school, he accepted a football scholarship to the University of Colorado Boulder. After spending his freshman season as a redshirt, he converted from quarterback to safety. He started for three seasons, helping the Buffaloes to two bowl games, earning honorable mention All-Big 12 Conference as a senior. After going undrafted in the 2009 NFL Draft, Walters turned to coaching, eventually being named the youngest (25 years old) position coach in the Pac-10 Conference during the 2011 season. After various stops along the way, Walters was promoted to defensive coordinator for the Missouri Tigers (2018–2020) and the Illinois Fighting Illini (2021–2022). On December 13, 2022, he was named the 37th head coach in the history of Purdue University. Early life Walters was born in Los Angeles, California to parents Marc and Nicole. Soon after his birth, his father had accepted a scholarship to play quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes. During his father's playing days, his babysitter was National Football League coach Eric Bieniemy. After his father's playing days, he grew up in Aurora, Colorado, while his father worked as a lawyer for Qwest.