PURDUE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 6, 2023

Ryan Walters

Press Conference

Q. Three games left. Sort of what are you going to be looking for here down the stretch? 2-7 obviously. Still a lot you can get accomplished, right?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, you know, the message obviously -- like everybody can count to six, right, so the path to the post-season play is not there.

You know, it breaks my heart for the seniors, guys that have exhausted eligibility. This will be their last season.

And so the message to the team on Sunday was really this is like a new season within a season, right? These last three games for the guys, that will be the last time that they put on a uniform to close out the right way and be remembered about the way you finished the season and the way you went out and fought and competed.

And for the guys that are coming back, it's the start of the a new season. How do you want practice to be ran? How do you want the games to be played? How do you want next season to look? That's got to show up in these next three days.

It'll be a good benchmark for the way we need to operate in closing out the season and really to push momentum forward into next year.

Q. You talked a little bit in the postgame on Saturday night about some of the young guys. Took Arhmad Branch on the trip. I think you said Steptoe got some reps. Talk about some of the young guys you'll being be looking at and some guys that maybe already caught your eye.

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, obviously the true freshmen have played already, are continuing to improve. I thought Zion did well. It was good to get baptized in the big house, right? There is not going to be a bigger venue to get your first meaningful reps. Thought that was good for him. He played well.

Talk about Derrick Rogers and Dillon Thieneman and Will Heldt on defense. You know, on offense you got George Burhenn, who has been playing a lot. Jaron Tibbs has gotten reps. Arhmad Branch got moved up. Could be some others, specifically with the way the roster has been going just from an injury standpoint.

So those guys will continue to improve. If they are deserving of reps on game day, they'll get reps on game day.

Q. Talk about the situation, offensive tackle. Seems pretty dire right now. Don't really have a third offensive tackle. Talk about Gus and just not having two of your three best offensive linemen, has it really compromised that offense right now?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, it's been -- you know, I give those guys a lot of credit. They were fighting their tails off. I give Coach Johnson a lot of credit, just being able to plug guys in different positions and still be able to function from a schematic standpoint is incredible.

You know, I give Gus a lot of credit, right? I think he's arguably one of the best centers in the Big10. For him to go out and play tackle and not lose a beat there I thought was good to see.

Yeah, just the reality of the situation we're in. Kaltenberger was unavailable last week because of some back issues, and so we had DJ and Ben that were available. Those guys are also pretty dinged up. So when one of them had to go out, we had to slide Gus out to tackle and put Austin in at center. I felt like that gave us our best chance to function and be competitive up front, so that's what we did. I thought those guys did a good job.

Q. How do you think the line being compromised has really impacted Hudson? Did you think he's gotten gun shy, developed any happy feet because of maybe the sense that he's not getting much of a pocket to work from?

RYAN WALTERS: I thought the Nebraska game there were instances of maybe some happy feet and not trusting it. I thought the other night I thought he for the most part -- did he play perfect? No. Like nobody has played perfect, especially against that defense. Let's not kid ourselves. That was a good defense.

So didn't think he had happy feet. I thought the times he escaped were because he had to escape in order to avoid taking a sack or taking a loss.

I think what Hudson showed was trust in the offensive line and trust in his teammates, because he did step in there and make some throws. He did escape when he had to. I thought those guys, they fought as hard as they could for him, so that's kind of what was the case last game.

Q. I feel like we ask something like this every week: Mershawn Rice made a big play early in the game and never came back. I assume he's probably done, too.

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, he's done for the year.

Q. Abdur, you said he might play last week and obviously didn't. Does it look like he has a shot to play against Minnesota?

RYAN WALTERS: I'm not sure. You know, Abdur, he's hurt right now and not ready to play. Just where we are at.

Q. Minnesota, you know, can't really put your finger on them. They've won ugly, they've won shootouts, every single game, other than the game against Michigan, looks like at the end of the game they're right there with a chance to win it. You're probably preparing for a team that's it's going to go down to the final plays of the fourth quarter.

RYAN WALTERS: Absolutely. And the last three times I've played them it's been that way, right? I got a lot of respect for Coach Fleck and what he's been able to do and accomplish at two different spots now.

His teams, they play smart, they play tough, they play physical. You kind of know what you're going to get on both sides of the ball, but they just do what they do well.

Like you said, they put themselves in a position to win the game in the fourth quarter, so every time you turn on the tape you see four-quarter games. I think offensively they run a lot of RPOs to give the quarterback some answers to unfavorable boxes in the run game.

They got a tight end that is as good as any in the country. It's been fun as a coach, right, not as somebody that's about to go against them, but just game planning. This will be my third time game planning against him. Just to see his growth, you know, I thought the first year we played them he had a lot of potential. Didn't really like to mix it up in the run game.

Then last year, I was like, okay, he's starting to develop into a tight end. He's serviceable in the run game. He can do all the things they ask him to do.

Now he's a good tight end. Like he's a complete player. Obviously the measurables are what they are and you can't teach that, but it just shows how much work he's put into the game of football and working on his craft that he's a complete player now.

You look at defensively, like, again, much like an Iowa team that kind of does what they do, a lot of quarters, a lot of quarter, quarter, half, but they do it will really, really well.

I think No. 27, the safety, is as good a safety as there is in the country. You know, I was surprised he came back this year. I thought based on crossover games and watching him a year ago, I was like, shoot, he's going to be gone. You know, all of a sudden I see him at Big 10 media days and I'm like, what are you doing?

So I'm sure they're happy that he's there. He's making a ton of plays, like he always does. And so they got good players, got sound scheme. They're well-coached, which is why they're in every game up until the fourth quarter.

Q. Somewhat of a random question, what is the value in a quarterback like Kyle Adams who knows his role, knows he not going to get in the game, but prepares like he is going to get in the game and seems to have a football savvy that probably helps Hudson out more than anything, and that's kind of his role with this team.

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, he's also a really good signal caller, you know what I mean, with the signals and stuff like that. Kyle is awesome in the locker room because he gets a pulse of the community. Any time you're like the big man on campus in high school in a town like West Lafayette, you have the success that he had in high school, like you just got a certain swagger about yourself.

He definitely carries that into the locker room. He's one of the more popular guys on the team with his teammates. Him and Hud have gotten tight. I'm glad he's on our team, and it's good to have somebody that grew up here care about this place the way he does.

Q. Obviously not the result you wanted. Were there positives or silver linings you saw from the game in Michigan?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, there were. You know, I thought we were able to -- I thought we were able to run the ball. You know, we scored 13 points, and nobody had done that up to this point, as crazy as that sounds.

I did think defensively, after those first two drives thought we settled in and played an attacking style of football, and you saw guys that looked like and played like they belonged on that stage.

Nic Scourton, he was dominant out there. K.J., again, he was dominant out there. So that is encouraging, especially when those two guys have years left, you know what I mean? So I think from a confidence standpoint and knowing now and having proof that what we are doing in the weight room, how we are practicing, and what we're doing schematically helps those guys and allows them to play the way they did against a top 10, Top 5, Top 3 team.

I think you definitely can take positives away from that. You know, I felt like when we were executing at a high level, albeit the depletion of the roster, that we were able to move the ball at times, so I think, again, that bodes well for confidence and having some proof on tape that when you do things the right way, that there are plays to be had and made out there.

And any time you can get experience in an environment like that with the surrounding stories and the underlying narratives of that game, any time you can experience that moment, I think those are good lessons learned and good teachers and good experiences to draw from for the future.

So did the outcome turn out like we wanted it to? Absolutely not. We had every intention of going out there and trying to win a ballgame, right? But there were times when you turn on the tape where you're like, man, that's the way it's supposed to look and. That what we're capable of. Hopefully these will be lessons we can draw from in a positive way moving forward.

Q. You mentioned Nic and K.J. You look it the stats, they look like the two best edge rushers in this league. If you're not 2-7 are people talking about these guys as some of the best players in the country right now?

RYAN WALTERS: Absolutely. I mean, the numbers -- not only do the numbers speak for themselves, but like you said, you turn on the tape and it's like there is wow factor there. It's not just a play here or there. It's like entire games.

You know, like the Nebraska game, you just watch those two guys' profile tape and it's like watching a highlight tape. I think every week they just keep getting more confident and more comfortable with their assignments and knowing when they can play free and when they have to spill and when they have to box and when they can make their own decisions.

And so for me, it's been fun to watch and to see them grow and to see them really take ownership over the system and how it pertains to their positions. So I just think those dudes still, they continue to grow and continue to have fun within the scheme.

Q. Is Jack Ansell still the No. 1 punter?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, from the non-running into the kicker call, he got dinged up on his plant leg. We'll see his ability this week.

Q. What's the morale of the team like right now having lost four in a row? Do you sense spirits are up or waning?

RYAN WALTERS: You know, obviously like nobody is comfortable losing, right, as competitors. Like every week you put in a lot of time, effort, energy, a lot of passion, a lot of everything into trying to win.

When you don't win, there is obviously disappointment. There is obvious frustration. There is anger, all the negative emotions that you get as a human being in a competitive environment. They're all there.

But what I've been proud of and sort of what gives my comfort in this roster is their willingness to go back to work after disappointment. That's the thing you worry about sitting in this seat as the head coach mis like you said, the morale of the team and the morale can get ugly. I've seen it get ugly in programs when you are on losing streaks like that.

But from the beginning, since I've been here, I've always been open and honest with them, and I think because of that they've been open and honest with me and my staff. I think that honesty and transparency is what allows us to come together and grow from it and try to move forward, because you're always going through the same things and feeling the same way.

So have we been disappointed? Absolutely. Are we upset? Absolutely. Nobody is hurt more than the people in the building. At the same time, nobody is working harder to rectify the issues to try to come out in the winner's side.

So definitely looking forward to this week. Looking forward to the next three games to try to put a stamp on how we come out of adverse moments so that we can move forward and look onto the bright things in the future.

Q. Your public face doesn't seem to change much, win, lose, or draw. From a personal standpoint, you've been in programs that have won. Been in programs that have struggled. What do you draw from on a personal level to keep yourself upbeat?

RYAN WALTERS: So for me, like I know I put on like a straight face, especially in front of people that aren't in the building. Guys in the locker room will tell you I'm not always like this.

But personally, you know, it's different when like when you're a coordinator, right? I think you have more emotion on one side of the ball. Like you can publically display that sort of emotion.

So now as a head coach, when I get in those emotional states where I feel myself getting angry or getting upset, or conversely, feel myself getting overly confident or extra happy, I try to like take a step back and just view things for what they are, you know what I mean?

I think as a head guy it's important to do that so that you can see what's real and what's not, like what's concrete, what's fabricated, right? I think when I allow myself to take that step back and see things for what they are and its face value and see the reality of where we are, reality of what the season has been, and then I can just make a nonemotional, logical move to take steps in the right direction, I have to do that.

Like that's my job now, right? I think because of that, it allows me to get back to baseline and allows the locker room to get back to calm and to get back to still waters so that we can all start moving in the same direction.

Q. I don't know about the rule, but I'm sure you see social media. Michigan fans throwing out there one of your staff members in the press box wearing an apple watch. Do you know the rule on that? To me it's non-story, but seems like they're pulling it, whatever strings they can to get back at what you said last week.

RYAN WALTERS: I'll look at the rule. Haven't seen the photo. Once the season starts, social media is done, unless it's for recruiting. So like the only times I'm looking is because I'm being told to post something.

I know there aren't allowed electronics up there. What type of electronic I got to go clarify. If we had somebody with an apple watch up there, you know, I can guarantee it wasn't in a malicious or trying to gain an advantage way.

Again, I got look at the picture and see who it was and see what they had on their wrist. Kudos to them for doing some very great investigative work.