5 questions with Purdue football safeties coach Grant O'Brien

WEST LAFAYETTE − Grant O'Brien's connection with Ryan Walters brings the safeties coach to West Lafayette, among the staff hires when Walters became Boilermaker head coach.

O'Brien previously worked with Walters at both Illinois and Missouri.

The former Northern Arizona defensive back and special teamer started his collegiate career playing at Glendale Community College, where he was a quarterback, defensive back and special teams captain.

He stayed at Northern Arizona after his playing career, coaching the Lumberjacks for two seasons before going to Arizona Christian, then Florida International before he linked up with Walters during his time at Missouri.

Q: Kevin Kane is the defensive coordinator but there might not be another guy who knows this defense as well as you. What can you tell us about this defense?

A: I've been fortunate enough to be with coach since 2018 and over time, he and Kevin have continued to tweak and improve the defense. It's a single high, man free cover 2 defense that allows our guys to play fast in the back end and cover and take away routes and get ball breaks. That's one of the reasons we led the nation in takeaways and pass defense (at Illinois). Up front, it creates one-on-ones. It creates confident players to play fast and play in space and get to the quarterback.

Q: How valuable is it to have Cam Allen and Sanoussi Kane come back for Purdue? What do they bring to this defense?

A: I am excited about both of those guys. Right when I got here, coach Walters was here getting the ball rolling. He was excited about Cam and Sanoussi both, more their leadership at first. He had a chance to meet those guys. Sanoussi is one of the first guys he met at the facility. You could just feel their energy, their presence, their poise. They are guys who have played a lot of football. What we're doing on the back end is we're going to continue to develop them and show them how we can help them. We've had success developing talented DBs.

Q: You've been with Ryan Walters for awhile now. I know he's going to have a lot of input with this defense, but what is different having him lead the whole program?

A: What is unique with my relationship with coach Walters and seeing him develop over the last three places we've been at, he understands football. Growing up, he's got an offensive background. Playing the quarterback position, his dad was an influence on him from that position as well. He went to Colorado to do that and then he transitioned to safety. As a player, he was exposed to the full realm of what the game is. He's continued to approach that as a coach. He understands how to attack people in all phases of the football. He's coached special teams in the past as well. The great thing coach Walters continues to do is develop and communicate with people. When you get in a room with him, you can tell he's got relationship skills to all levels. He has an ability to connect and he's a wise dude. He has information to give and we are fired up to see him lead this program.

Q: You got your start playing junior college football. With the transfer portal being what it is now, how important is it to still use junior college as a tool in recruiting when you're looking for guys?

A: Now more than ever you have to continue to seek players at all different walks. Everybody's got their own story. We're obviously Midwest based here and there's some good community college ball in this area of the nation. Now more than ever, you've got to tap into all forms, whether it's a junior college kid or a transfer portal kid. There's players out there. Myself, coach (Matt) Mattox and there's a few other guys on the staff that have had success with junior college players. But it also has to be the best fit for us. We're hoping to find the right players for Purdue.

Q: You've seen Purdue from the other vantage point while at Illinois. What impressed you about Purdue before you got to West Lafayette?

A: As far as last year's season, they made a strong push late, especially in November to get where they needed to be as far as winning the Big Ten West and playing in the Big Ten title game. What fired me up was just going back on tape and watching the game as a whole when we got here at Purdue and seeing the guys we have in the building and how they competed. That was one of the first things we did is watch everyone who had played and that is what excited us. I know it's what excited coach Walters. We have players in the building now that are used to winning. It's a lot easier to continue to build to that tradition. We're going to put our own little flavor on it, but I am just fired up about those guys.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: 5 questions with Purdue football safeties coach Grant O'Brien