This football season, the Purdue Boilermakers did not have the season everyone was hoping for. Purdue’s first game of the season was against the Indiana State Sycamores ending with the score of 49-0. Unfortunately, the season just went downhill from there. Purdue struggled to score which caused major losses against Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Indiana University, Ohio State, and many more. Purdue did have a handful of games where they came within ten points of a victory against Michigan State, Northwestern University, and Illinois. Because of the devastating season Purdue faced, athletic director Mike Bobinski made the consecutive decision to fire Purdue’s head coach, Ryan Walters. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the reason behind firing Walters was because of the 5 and 19 record during his two-year tenure. Walters also only had three victories against Big Ten Conference opponents. Thamel also stated it was more than the losses, but the nature of losing was another contributor that pushed Walters out of his contract early.
According to the New York Times’, Scott Dotcherman, Purdue football went from being the Big Ten West Division champion to being the worst program in power conference football. The Boilermakers were on pace for only their third winless Big Ten campaign since 1949 and this season they matched it. Purdue is also sitting last in nearly every defensive category out of the 18 Big Ten schools. The same results are for offensive stats as well. Purdue allowed nearly 9 points and 64 more yards than any other team in the Big Ten. The Purdue Boilermakers were last in scoring for both defense and offense. Purdue also ranked in the bottom two of the Big Ten in time possessions, third-down offensive and defensive, and in turnover margin.
According to Journal & Courier’s, Sam King, Ryan Walters was officially fired Sunday, December 1, 2024, after the 0-66 loss to longtime rival Indiana University. A.D. Bobinski placed an estimated timeline of seven to ten days to hire Walters’ successor. At the press conference on Monday, December 2, 2024, Bobinski was flooded with questions about who the new coach will be and what kind of coach he wants to lead the Boilermakers. Bobinski did not commit to whether he was planning on hiring someone from either side of the ball or, rather the committee will search for the best possible candidate. Bobinski continued “We’re trying to build a great program that is going to be sustainably successful, but having some immediate success matters these days.” He also stated being sound offensively, defensively, and on special teams is the ultimate key, and whatever it takes to ensure that is the case is what Purdue is seeking. Bobinski also assured in the press conference that Purdue will be going back to a winning coach. Bibinski also stated he would put in whatever amount it takes to get the coach and staff Purdue wants, but there will clearly be limits. Bobinski did make it clear that it was not just going to be him and football administrator Tiffini Grimes making the decision to hire the new coach. Bobinski stated “Trustees, and President (Mung) Chiang will absolutely be involved. Following that is a big piece of the University.
According to Indianapolis Star’s Nathan Baird and Sam King, Bobinski stated the groundwork of the search for the new coach began in the final weeks of the regular season. With the search starting and names flooding in during the early stages, Boinski was aiming toward someone who had done this before. Bobinski had a variety of options to choose from when it came to coaches with entirely enough experience with coaching college teams. The coaches Bobinski looked at were Tyson Helton from Western Kentucky, Jeff Monken who coached the army, Jon Sumrall from Talune, Jason Candle from Toledo, Barry Odam from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Chip Kelly the Ohio State offensive coordinator, Dan Mullen former Florida University coach, Paul Chryst former Wisconsin coach, Matt Campbell from Iowa State, Chuck Martin from Miami (Ohio), and Brent Vigen from Montana State. Bobinski also took a look at offensive coordinators JaMarcus Shepard, the Alabama assistant head coach, Will Stein, Oregon’s offensive coordinator, and Brennan Marian, UNLV’s offensive coordinator.
When the decision finally came down to it Bobinski decided to go with Barry Odam. Odam had previous experience working as Sam Pittman’s defensive coordinator at Arkansas. Most recently, Odam ended his previous two seasons at UNLV with a 19 and 7 record, two conference championship game appearances, and may finish in the Associated Press’ top 25 for the first time ever. With Odam’s experience with football, it is safe to say Bobnski made the right decision for the University of Purdue’s football program.
