'Purdue just hit a home run': Twitter reacts to hiring of Ryan Walters as head coach
So Purdue will suddenly become the Cradle of Crunch?
The Boilermakers have long been known for their quarterbacks, receivers and "basketball on grass," but rarely a stifling defense. They're banking on that to change by hiring Ryan Walters as coach.
He has quickly built one of the nation's top units as the Illinois defensive coordinator.
Here are the winning percentages of Purdue's full-time coaches from the past three decades: Jeff Brohm (.514), Darrell Hazell (.214), Danny Hope (.449), Joe Tiller (.584), Jim Colletto (.341), Fred Akers (.284).
Who is Ryan Walters?7 things you should know about Purdue football's new coach
Reaction to Purdue football hiring Ryan Walters
Great day to be a boilermaker and a better day to be Ryan Walters pic.twitter.com/AY0C5qmdEK
— Ryan Walters (@ryanw76) December 13, 2022
Ryan Walters #Purdue pic.twitter.com/xxLx86LTCz
— markb (@cubscoltsfan) December 13, 2022
Ryan Walters is going to do great things at Purdue. It’s his time, to show the world how special he is. Purdue just hit a home run.
— Carl Reed (@CoachReedLive) December 13, 2022
With Purdue hiring Ryan Walters, the Big Ten now has four active African-American head coaches. The conference continues to lead the country in breaking down barriers and stereotypes.
In their 80+ years of existing as a conference, the SEC has only had five, in total.— MGo🫘 (@MJoeBean) December 13, 2022
Former Mizzou defensive coordinators doing well these days:
Matt Eberflus: Bears HC
Barry Odom: UNLV HC
Ryan Walters: Purdue HC
Steve Wilks: Panthers interim HC (maybe getting that interim tag pulled?)— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) December 13, 2022
I really like the Ryan Walters hiring by Purdue. As long as the Boilermakers give him the budget to work with, should be able to put together a staff that squashes any offensive concerns. Illinois' defensive turnaround under Walters speaks for itself.
— Paul Harvey 🔨 (@HammerHarvey) December 13, 2022
Please trust #Purdue AD Mike Bobinski on Ryan Walters hire. This has nothing to do with old regime hires … nothing. #Boilers landed a young, energetic coach who is known to be 1 of best in biz & can flat out recruit. Purdue needs a better D & will have one now.
— Doug Griffiths (@DougGriffMAX983) December 13, 2022
“He believes in his players, man. Just when he came in from Day 1, he had a lot of confidence in us as players. We really believed in him, so we listened to every little detail he was telling us.”
Some background reading on new Purdue coach Ryan Walters: https://t.co/7qkvXZjDAJ— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) December 13, 2022
I’ve been wrong on many hires before, and I’ll be rooting for Ryan Walters, but I’m surprised Purdue didn’t go with an offensive-minded coach. History is against him, too. Purdue hasn’t had b2b coaches with winning records since hiring Noble Kizer after James Phelan in 1930.
— Sam Rumpza (@samrumpza) December 13, 2022
Whether a college such as Purdue hires and offensive guy or defensive guy doesn't matter. It comes down to whether he can recruit and what kind of staff he puts together. But it will be important to get an OC who runs a pass-oriented offense to take advantage of the QB tradition.
— Mark Montieth (@MarkMontieth) December 13, 2022
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Twitter reacts as Purdue football hires Ryan Walters as head coach
