Ryan Walters had never called an offense before last week. Hard to argue with the results.

WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue football coach Ryan Walters made the boldest decision of his tenure in the dead of night last week.

Walters said the decision to call the offense himself against Illinois came at “like Thursday morning at 2:30.” He had not suddenly been hit with an epiphany, though.

A defensive coordinator by trade prior to becoming the Boilermakers’ coach, Walters wanted to refine his fluency of the offense’s terminology and procedures. By mid-week, he was satisfied he would make a positive impact.

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Walters said he will continue to call the offense moving forward. Interim offensive coordinator Jason Simmons will continue to handle the daily practice scripts and provide in-game insight from the coaches’ box.

“The week of the Wisconsin game I spent learning the vocab, learning the rules within the offense,” Walters said. “I didn’t feel comfortable calling it that game, just because I wouldn’t be able to spit out plays fast enough. We got to midweek last week, and I felt like I had the vocab down enough to know what play I wanted to get to.”

Walters played safety at Colorado and began his coaching career overseeing positions in the secondary. He served as defensive coordinator at Missouri and Illinois.

He never served as an offensive position coach, nor had he called an offense prior to last Saturday. Hard to argue with those results. What had statistically been one of the nation’s worst offenses put up 536 yards and five touchdowns on the road agianst a top 25 opponent.

Walters had called Purdue’s defense up until last week, when he handed those duties back to defensive coordinator Kevin Kane. He said that switch required an intellectual shift, in…

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Author : IndyStar | The Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2024-10-15 08:20:38

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