Offense-minded Purdue bets on defensive guru Ryan Walters

That’d be the time when he picked up his new offensive coordinator, Graham Harrell, on his way to pitch their new quarterback, Texas transfer Hudson Card.

“I was actually in the state of Texas recruiting for West Virginia when I got this job,” Harrell said last week to PU reporters. “So I just stayed there. Walt picked me up on a plane, we went from Dallas to Austin. He gave me a (Purdue) shirt, and we went in.”

And thus began the new era of Purdue football. The last one, under Jeff Brohm, was pretty darn good. Brohm posted a 36-34 record over six years, won a West Division title and got the team to four bowls. In the last five seasons, Purdue either had the Big Ten’s No. 1 or No. 2 passing offense.

Pass defense was a different story, and whatever Brohm’s considerable strengths were on offense, he had four different defensive coordinators in his last four years. Brohm left for alma mater Louisville and appeared not to generate many West Lafayette tears in doing so.

Enter Walters, the former Colorado defensive back who forced a fumble in the 2007 game against the Huskers and who got consideration, in early 2014, to replace Terry Joseph as NU’s defensive backs coach. Bo Pelini chose Charlton Warren instead. Walters went to Memphis to work for Barry Odom. Odom took Walters to Missouri, where Walters spent six seasons before moving on to coordinate Illinois’ defense for Bret Bielema.

Coaching Lovie Smith’s recruits, Walters’ stingy, man-coverage-driven defense was spectacular. Illinois’ 2022 pass defense efficiency rating was better than every Big Ten team since 2013 Michigan State. The Illini held Michigan’s 40-point-a-game offense to 19. When Colorado chose to hire Deion Sanders over Walters, Purdue made its play.

It comes with risk. Walters has not been a head coach before. His seven-minute interview with reporters after the first day of spring camp differed wildly from, say, Matt Rhule’s. Walters said he was “still getting used” to being a walkaround head coach.

“Not just being so centric on one position or one side of the ball,” Walters said. “I do think it’s good for me to get around the offense, too.”

He hired his linebackers coach from Illinois to run the defense. On offense, he hired Harrell, who will bring the Air Raid offense. Purdue’s the one Big Ten program fit for it — Boiler QBs have averaged more than 40 attempts in last four years — but it’s a stark change from the physical run offense Bielema paired with Walters’ defense. That kind of offense seasons and sharpens a D over the course of fall camp. Purdue’s never did.

Still, Walters radiates confidence in his defense. He’s understated about it but not shy; he thinks he’s as good at calling a defense as anyone.

“It’s not the old Purdue scheme anymore, it’s our scheme,” Walters said. “The new Purdue scheme. Everything changed defensively.”

I’m guessing he’d like the players from Illinois, though. Five Illini made one of the three All-Big Ten teams, with three — Devon Witherspoon, Sydney Brown and Jer’Zhan Newton — making the first team. All three were recruited from Florida by Smith, who largely ignored the prospects in his own state but left a full cupboard for Walters.

At Purdue, Walters will have to figure it out himself. Brohm recruited well, too — better than his predecessors. It fueled Purdue’s improvement. Brohm also lucked into a walk-on quarterback, Aidan O’Connell, who was much better than the typical walk-on.

Card is closer to a prep legend. He played at Austin Lake Travis High School, accounting for 100 career touchdowns. He beat out Casey Thompson for the starting UT job in 2021, then lost it to Thompson, then lost the job in 2022 to Quinn Ewers, who got hurt against Alabama. Ewers’ injury opened the door for Card to throw for 928 yards — with a 69.4% completion rate — in mostly four games. He torched West Virginia for 303 yards and three scores, which left an impression on Harrell.

“He’s got a chance to be special,” Harrell said. “It’s kind of a rare combination to have a guy who can throw it at a really elite level and be athletic. A lot of times you’re choosing one or the other.”

Card won’t have the services of receiver Charlie Jones (110 catches, 1,361 yards) or tight end Payne Durham (56, 560), both of whom moved on to the NFL. Former walk-on running back Devin Mockobee is back after rushing for 968 yards last season; much of the offensive line is, too.

The defense must replace almost all of its secondary, but a decent chunk of the front seven, minus Jalen Graham, is back. Purdue finished 5-2 in one-score games last season, including a 31-24 over Illinois. That game turned out to clinch the division for the Boilermakers. Brohm got the better of Walters.

That was the old Purdue. Walters runs the new one.

“Our three foundational pillars are being competitive, being tough and being disciplined,” Walters said. “In every phase of the game, if that is our identity, we’ll have a chance to be successful.”