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Purdue announced Sunday that it is moving on from coach Ryan Walters, creating the third Power Four vacancy during the 2024-25 coaching carousel. Walters, a former defensive coordinator at Missouri and Illinois, departs West Lafayette, Indiana, with a 5-19 overall record and a 3-15 showing in conference play.
Walters had a tough job in replacing former Purdue coach Jeff Brohm, who won two bowl games and led the Boilermakers to a Big Ten Championship Game appearance in 2023 prior to leaving for Louisville, but Walters quickly undid a lot of the work that Brohm put in to make Purdue competitive.
The Boilermakers did win four games in Walters’ first year, but star players like Deion Burks and Nic Scourton entered the transfer portal. The Boilermakers fell to 1-11 in 2024 and went winless in Big Ten play for the first time since 2013. They were outscored 261-17 in five games against top-10 opponents.
Given the dearth of major coaching openings thus far, Purdue should be able to operate an extensive coaching search. But the Boilermakers don’t have tremendous resources to throw at their football program, and whomever takes the job will inherit a roster that’s trailing behind the rest of the Big Ten in terms of talent level. Purdue is at its best when it has an innovative coach that gets the most from his players.
Here are the top potential candidates to replace Walters at Purdue.
Purdue coaching candidates
Paul Chryst, former Wisconsin coach: Chryst has been out of the full-time coaching game for a couple of years, but he is a rare option with ready-made Big Ten experience with nothing really tying him down. A former quarterback at Wisconsin, Chryst spent several years as an assistant at his alma mater, got his first head coaching opportunity at Pittsburgh and returned to Madison in 2015 to replace Gary Andersen. Chryst won 10 games in four of his first five seasons and guided the Badgers to three Big Ten West titles in the same span. Though Wisconsin faltered a bit from 2020-22, leading to Chryst’s eventual firing five games into the 2022 campaign, he never had a losing Big Ten record in a full season with the program. It seems like Chryst is a solid candidate to return to coaching if he desires.
Jason Candle, Toledo coach: Candle probably has a lifetime job with Toledo if he wants it. He joined the staff as tight ends coach in 2009 and has been around the program since, earning his current appointment as head coach in 2016. In the ensuing nine years, he’s amassed a 71-40 record with two MAC championships and two MAC Coach of the Year nods. He signed an extension in October, and his star probably dimmed a bit amid Toledo’s 3-4 finish to the 2024 season, but he’s a proven program builder that could likely be hired on a university friendly deal so long as he’s comfortable leaving Toledo.
Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky coach: Helton was a serious candidate for Purdue during its last coaching search before the Boilermakers ultimately settled on Walters. That was after he led Western Kentucky to its third nine-win season in four years under his watch. Though the Hilltoppers haven’t reached that bar in the two years since, the Hilltoppers did just secure a spot in the Conference USA Championship Game with a win against Jacksonville State and an 8-4 record. Plus, the last coach that Purdue hired from Western Kentucky (Brohm) worked out pretty well, and Helton has the offensive background that the Boilermakers likely desire.
Dan Mullen, former Florida coach: Would it be a coaching candidates list without Mullen in the mix? It seems like a question of when — not if — the former Gators boss makes his return to college football. He’s a brilliant offensive mind with a track record of developing and coaching up the players on his roster — something that Purdue needs to separate itself — and he only had two losing records in 12 full seasons at Mississippi State and Florida. He also led the Gators to a New Year’s Six bowl in each of his first three years with the program.
Andy Kotelnicki, Penn State offensive coordinator: Speaking of offensive innovation, few coaches are as creative as Kotelnicki, who has quickly risen through the coaching ranks with stints at Kansas and Penn State. Kotelnicki was a longtime collaborator with Lance Leipold at Buffalo and Kansas before branching out on his own ahead of the 2024 season and taking his current job at Penn State. It was an excellent move for the Nittany Lions, who finished the regular season ranked second in the Big Ten in total offense (442.8 yards per game), second in rushing offense (194.7 ypg) and fourth in scoring offense (33.3 points per game).
JaMarcus Shephard, Alabama co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach: Shephard’s a familiar face around West Lafayette. He served as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach from 2018-21 under Brohm and was responsible for producing some of Purdue’s most dynamic offensive threats, such as wide receivers Rondale Moore and David Bell. He left for Washington in 2022 and tutored a trio of 2024 NFL Draft picks in Rome Odunze (first round), Ja’Lynn Polk (second round) and Jalen McMillan (third round). Shephard then followed coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama. The Crimson Tide currently have a pair of 700-yard receivers in five-star freshman Ryan Williams and former Washington transfer Germie Bernard. Obviously, the concern with Shephard is his lack of high-leverage experience — he has never served as anything more than a co-offensive coordinator — but he’s an excellent recruiter and developer of his position with Purdue ties and tremendous untapped upside.
Tommy Rees, Cleveland Browns pass game specialist/tight ends coach: Rees is highly regarded in coaching circles, and he’s always seemed like a prime candidate to lead a program, even if that opportunity hasn’t materialized yet. He’s had the chance to coach under a pair of college football’s most recognizable names in Brian Kelly and Nick Saban, and he earned a job as an NFL assistant at just 32 years old. A lot of Rees’ concerns are the same as Shephard’s, but, again, there’s plenty of upside there if Purdue wants to take a swing.
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