'Excited to get back' for Purdue football as spring practice begins
WEST LAFAYETTE − Ryan Walters made it through day one as head coach.
The moment he'd been waiting for since Purdue hired the former Illinois defensive coordinator to lead its program came Tuesday with the opening of spring football practice.
"I was happy that we made it through a practice," Walters said. "This is the first practice for me as a head coach personally. To be able to see it sort of play out and be clean, I thought it was good."
Good for the coaches.
Good for the players who are adapting to a new coaching staff.
For the first time, they got to know their coaches from the vantage point of running drills and evaluating their football skills.
"We’ve got to play a little catch up at the same time but they’ve done a really good job since they’ve gotten here, letting us know the system, letting us know the scheme," fifth-year senior linebacker Jacob Wahlberg said. "Getting us very familiarized with it early on. For it being just day one, it was a really good practice and things are really starting to click already."
Rain forced the opening practice indoors at Mollenkopf Athletic Facility, but it didn't damper the mood of the players who'd been eager to get back to work.
"I was just excited to get back to playing football, getting the pads on," running back Devin Mockobee said. "I am really excited when we finally get full pads on and we start hitting."
After winning the Big Ten West last season, there's plenty of positive from former coach Jeff Brohm's regime to build on.
But the Boilermakers also know how far there is to go.
Purdue lost the Big Ten Championship game to Michigan, then suffered a blowout loss to LSU in the Citrus Bowl.
Just one day in, the Boilers believe they're on the right path.
"We couldn’t wait to get out here and see how they yell at us and stuff like that," senior safety Cam Allen said. "Seeing how they interact with us on the field, everybody loves them so far. We haven’t had any complaints or anything. Small talk in the locker room. Everything is going good. Coming out here and seeing how they operate, how we go through practice and stuff like that is very smooth."
Purdue's roster still will need additions.
After evaluating what Purdue has, Walters plans to dip into the transfer portal to patch up any holes.
But that's in the distance.
Everyone currently in a Purdue practice jersey has first crack at earning spots on the depth chart.
"There’s a winner and a loser in everything that we do. This is a results-driven business," Walters said. "In the fall, people keep score so we have to understand that and have a sense of urgency in everything we do, whether it’s individual or seven-on-seven or team, the mindset's got to be I am competing because someone is keeping score."
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: 'Excited to get back' for Purdue football as spring practice begins
