Ryan Walters (American football)

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.

As a junior in 2002, he threw for 1,582 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also running for 478 yards and 11 scores before a meniscus tear ended his season.

As a senior in 2003, he broke the Grandview record for career touchdown passes, 36, a record that stood until 2020.

The spring before his senior season, Walters committed to play college football at Colorado and head coach Gary Barnett.

As a senior, he racked up 1,549 passing yards (59.2 completion percentage, 14 TDs), limiting his running as he played hurt a good portion of the season as he played in just nine games.

He played college football for Colorado from 2004 to 2008.

Walters was able to graduate high school early in December, and enrolled at the University of Colorado in January 2004.

He entered his true freshman season as the sixth quarterback on the Buffaloes' depth chart.

After an illness kept him out of most of the spring practices, he was asked to move to safety to help the team prepare.

His play impressed the Colorado coaching staff so much, that he was moved to the defensive side of the ball permanently.

He took the fall of his true freshman season to redshirt and gain muscle.

As a redshirt freshman he played in 9 games.

For the 2005 season, he recorded 16 tackles with his season high of four coming against Texas in the 2005 Big 12 Championship Game.

Walters also recorded three pass breakups and two quarterback hurries.

In 2006, as a sophomore, Walters claimed a starting safety position for the Buffaloes.

Against Texas Tech, he recorded both his first and second interceptions.

As a result, he was awarded the Big 12 Conference defensive player of the week.

Against Kansas, Walters recorded his first collegiate touchdown, with a 95-yard fumble recovery.

He had a season-high 11 tackles against Arizona State.

Walters was a preseason first-team All-Big 12 selection by both Athlon and The Sporting News.

In week 1, Walters established what would end up being a career high, 16 tackles against Colorado State.

Against #3 Oklahoma, Walters intercepted a pass from quarterback Sam Bradford, which lead to an touchdown on the ensuing drive.

In the 2007 Independence Bowl, he had an interception, setting up Colorado's first touchdown of the bowl.

Walters entered his senior year as the starter at free safety.

He was named a preseason third team All-Big 12 by Phil Steele’s College Football and voted a team captain by his teammates.

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.

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 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.

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.

Walters attended Grandview High School, where he played quarterback.