When the Purdue Boilermakers lost head coach Jeff Brohm to his alma mater Louisville, they had to act swiftly to name a head coach. The school looked within the Big Ten to snag Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters as the new head coach.
Walters brought offensive coordinator Graham Harrell over from West Virginia to implement the new offense. Harrell is among the best quarterbacks of the modern era and still holds NCAA records for most 300-yard passing games in a season and career.
This duo is going to face tough sledding as they start the 2023 season. Walters is among a group of first-year coaches facing the toughest schedules as they start their new tenures.
The Purdue schedule:
- vs Fresno State (Sept. 2)
- at Virginia Tech (Sept. 9)
- vs Syracuse (Sept. 16)
- vs Wisconsin (Sept. 23)
- vs Illinois (Sept. 30)
- at Iowa (Oct. 7)
- vs Ohio State (Oct. 14)
The Boilermakers will have their open week following the matchup against the Buckeyes in West Lafayette, Indiana. The added transfer quarterback Hudson Card from the Texas Longhorns to run Harrell’s offense in year one.
Last season Purdue finished No. 6 in the Big Ten with 26.6 points per game. They will look to improve the offense with a higher scoring offense in the modified ‘Air Raid’ system.
Walters’ calling card is on the defensive side of the ball. Purdue finished in the bottom half of the conference at No. 9 with 27.4 points per game surrendered. That number should come down in year one under Walters. Last season with the Fighting Illini, his defense was No. 1 in the Big Ten at 12.8 points per game allowed.
Other notable coaches who have tough opening schedules include Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders and Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=25]
[mm-video type=video id=01gvkhva6frhgktccc5g playlist_id=01gq2fszf7mxxc88k4 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gvkhva6frhgktccc5g/01gvkhva6frhgktccc5g-ae09f55d49f5529fa45213c034d5de24.jpg]