Purdue Football Assistant Coaches and Coaching Staff 2023

Purdue Football coaching staff 2023 are given below:

Ryan Walters is the Purdue Football head coach. The institution hired him as the 37th head coach on the 13th of December, 2022.

This is Walters’ first year as a head coach, and he has won three games while losing eight.

He will have a chance to improve his record to four wins when they face off against the Indiana Hoosiers on November 25 for their final game of the 2023 season.

The 37-year-old was the Defensive Coordinator of the Illinois Fighting Illini from 2021 to 2022.

The former Safety for Colorado Buffaloes (2004-08) started his coaching career as a student assistant in his alma mater in 2009. A year later, in 2010, he joined the Arizona Wildcats as a graduate assistant.

After a year, he was given the Defensive Backs coach duty in 2011.

The Californian moved to Oklahoma Sooners in 2012 to work as a graduate assistant under Bob Stoops. He became a cornerback coach for North Texas Mean Green in 2013 and Memphis Tigers in 2014.

Time with Missouri Tigers

When Barry Odom moved to Missouri in 2015 to take over the Defensive Coordinator role, Walters was roped in as a Safeties coach.

In 2016, Barry got the HC role, and it helped Ryan bag the Co-Defensive Coordinator duty.

Similarly, Ryan received his second promotion in 2018 and was named the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. He served in that role until 2020.

Purdue Football Offensive Coordinator is Graham Harrell. The football program recruited the former Green Bay Packers player on December 20, 2022.

Harrell hails from Brownwood, Texas, and graduated from Ennis High School. He recorded 12,532 passing yards and 167 touchdowns from 2000 to 2003.

He chose Texas Tech Red Raiders and was a menace for the opponents. He has eight NCAA records to his name.

After being undrafted in the 2009 draft, the QB played in the Canadian Football League for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

In 2010, the Green Bay Packers signed him as a third-string QB. On September 30, 2012, he made his NFL debut.

He remained with the Packers from 2010 to 2012. In 2013, he was signed into the New York Jets’ preseason squad.

Coaching career

After hanging up his boots, he began his exploits as an Offensive quality control assistant for the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2009.

The Washington State Cougars brought Graham to handle the outside wide receivers’ coaching duty 2014.

Likewise, his other coaching duties and college teams leading to Purdue are:

• North Texas Mean Green (2016-18)
  • Offensive Coordinator and QB coach
• USC Trojans (2019-21)
  • Offensive Coordinator and QB coach
• West Virginia Mountaineers (2022)
  • Offensive Coordinator and QB coach

Purdue Football defensive coordinator Kevin Kane joined the Boilermakers in December 2022 after his former Illinois associate got hired as head coach.

Kane was the assistant head coach / outside linebackers coach for the Illinois football team, and Walters was the defensive coordinator. The two helped put together a fierce defensive unit, which conceded the highest of 31 points in 2022.

Throughout the 2022 campaign, it was the only time the opponent managed to cross the 30-point mark.

The 39-year-old is from Kansas City, Missouri, and played as a linebacker for the Kansas Jayhawks from 2002 to 2005.

After that, he focused on coaching and became a student assistant in his alma mater from 2006 to 2007.

He moved to the Wisconsin Badgers as a graduate assistant in 2008 and bagged the defensive quality control responsibility in 2010.

After that, the Northern Illinois Huskies hired him as a Tight End and Fullback coach in 2011. Kane was made the Linebackers coach in 2012 and was given the Special Teams duty in 2013.

Kevin returned to the Jayhawks as an LB coach in 2015 and made another U-turn to the Huskies as a defensive coordinator and LB coach in 2016.

He was recruited for the same role by the SMU Mustangs in 2018. He worked there till 2020.

Forty coaches have guided the Purdue Boilermakers since its inaugural organized football match in 1887. Albert Berg was the first coach for the institution.

Mr. Berg, at the age of 23, was given a one-week time to prepare a football team for their first game. The team played against Butler College and lost 48-6.

Since then, 36 HCs and three interim coaches have commanded the football program. Below is the list of all the individuals who managed the team:

Of all the forty coaches, D. M. Balliet is the only person who enjoyed multiple tenures with the football program.

His first term was successful as the team was first in the Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1893 and 1894. His first stint ended with an 18-6-1 record.

He returned in 1901 when the Boilermakers played in the Western Conference. It was a forgettable season. The team were 7th in the league with a 4-4-1 record

Interim Coaches

Patrick Higgins, Gerad Parker, and Brian Brohm are the three interim coaches in Purdue history. The three coached for a combined 8 games.

Higgins was the Wide Receiver coach at the organization from 2011 to 2012. He was given the HC duty for the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl after the termination of Danny Hope on November 25, 2012.

Likewise, Brohm became the HC for the 2023 Citrus Bowl after Jeff Brohm resigned to work as the HC of Louisville Cardinals. Biran and Higgins won their respective Bowl games.

Parker was recruited as the Tight End and recruiting coordinator in 2013. He served as the Wide Receivers coach from 2015 to 2016.

When Darrell Hazell failed to impress in the 2016 campaign and was 3-3 in six games, he was fired mid-season. Parker took charge for the remaining six games and was 0-6.

College Football Hall of Fame Recipients

Purdue Boilermakers HCs who were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame include:

• Andy Smith
  • Record: 21-12
  • Inducted in 1951
• William Henry
  • Record: 7-1
  • Inducted in 2012
• James Phelan
  • Record: 62-35
  • Inducted in 1973
• Jack Mollenkopf
  • Record: 132-84
  • Inducted in 1988
• Jim Young
  • Record: 58-38
  • Inducted in 1999

Conference Championship Winning Coaches

Nine HCs helped the team win the conference gold, but Knowlton Ames was the first to achieve this feat. He earned it in 1891 and 1892.

D. M. Balliot did it in 1893 and 1894. They both won the titles when the team was a member of the Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

The other seven HCs won the Big Ten conference titles.

• A. G. Scanlon: 1918
• James Phelan: 1929
• Noble Kizer: 1931 and 1932
• Elmer Burnham: 1943
• Stu Holcomb: 1952
• Jack Mollenkopf: 1967
• Joe Tiller: 2000