PURDUE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 20, 2023

Ryan Walters

Press Conference

Q. I guess a good place to start is with the quarterback, Marcos. Guy has been here for a while. Talk about him, what he brings to the table for you.

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, really excited about Marcos. Even more excited he's going to be here at semester. He's big, 63, 220 plus, very confident. Played a lot of ball. Thrown for over 9000 yards in his career, so has logged a lot of winning football from that standpoint.

Big arm. Extremely talented. Can make every throw. Strong. Accurate. All the things that you need to be hopefully an elite level quarterback. He's got those intangibles, tools, so very excited about his career here.

Q. It looks like you're really bulking up on the offensive line. Four today; six today, I should say. Four high school, two JC guys. Talk about the desire to add some depth and size, too.

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, needed to add numbers just from -- we were so short in numbers when I got the job here anyway, and so were able to identify the type of guys that we want moving forward.

We'll add some more from a transfer portal standpoint as well with the idea of getting bigger, athletic, having some depth. I thought depth was one the things we lacked this season, so we'll have depth. Depth creates competition, and this is the Big10, so the emphasis on big. Definitely wanted to get bigger up front.

Q. When you're on the road recruiting, what question are you asked the most by parents and recruits?

RYAN WALTERS: Depends on what stage. If it's a high school recruit, you know, you talk about academics, environment, developmental plan, and fits schematically and culturally.

With the transfer portal recruits it's a much different conversation. They've gone through the recruiting process. They have specific wants and needs. It's definitely more -- it's less relationship, more fit.

You know, obviously they're more mature because they have gone through a collegiate season or two or three or four, and so those are much different conversations.

Q. You mentioned big. When it comes to the offensive line, Merriweather, he is 6'2", 200 pounds. How important was it for you and Coach Connor to get a big running back to go behind that offensive line?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, definitely important. What's interesting about his recruitment and sort of his evaluation, when I first got here and we were going through the list of running backs that Coach Connor had put together. He was the one I was like, man, I want him. Let's go get him.

You talk about size, talk about speed, talk about versatility, he's great out of the backfield as a receiver as well. Super versatile. Kudos to coach LC for taking the directive, I want to go get that guy. Sure enough, we were able to sign him.

Just an infectious kid personality-wise. Ultra confident. He's another guy that will be here at semester, and so I'm thrilled to have him being featured in the backfield. I think he'll fit in great here in West Lafayette.

Q. Jaheim in June, and then if you go back to the same type of camp here, Spencer Porath obviously came during the beginning of June. What does it say about Spencer that he came and kicked for a scholarship, and what do you like about bringing a kicker like him?

RYAN WALTERS: What I like -- so I've been around some pretty good kickers just in my collegiate career both as a player and a coach. When I was a player at Colorado we had Mason Crosby, who was one of the best kickers in the country when he was coming out.

With Jake Elliott at Memphis, who is still kicking for the Eagles.

The things that those guys had in common, they were good athletes and competitors just as people. Spencer definitely fits that mold. He plays basketball. He's not your typical kicker per se.

During winter workouts he would fit in from a (indiscernible) standpoint, so he's got some competitiveness to him. Got a chip on his shoulder. Any time you can bring a guy like that that's not just a kicker, he's an athlete, that definitely bodes well for high-pressure situations, when the game is on the line.

He's going to be wanting to go out there and wanting to be put in those high-pressure situations.

Q. About a year ago this time you had the job for about six days.

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah.

Q. Where are you personally and where is the program compared to this point last year?

RYAN WALTERS: Much more prepared. Much more educated on what our needs are. If you look back to six days ago a year ago this time, we were in a completely different stage. We had some high school guys that were committed that we're trying to keep committed.

We had no idea what the roster looked like and what our needs were from a transfer portal standpoint.

So you look at a year removed, we have identified what holes we need to fill, identified who we can count on to play winning football in this conference that was currently on our roster, and we have been able to evaluate and recruit guys to come help us win a championship.

So you look at where we'll be January 8th when school starts, we'll have a couple scholarships left just in case moving forward.

Where a lot of our guys a year ago came in the summertime. So I think chemistry will be better. Competition will be better. Spring ball we'll probably be able to have a spring game because we'll have the numbers to do so, a couple with the stadium being finished.

Definitely excited for this spring semester and getting those guys inundated with this culture, acclimated to the rigors of Purdue academically, adjusting to the environment of West Lafayette, getting to know each other and spending time with each other.

So it is night and day comparatively from where we are right now to where we were a year ago.

Q. Donovan Hamilton, can you talk about the process of recruiting him, getting him on campus and getting him to commit so fast and what you saw in him?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, was aware of Donovan a year ago. His background, he had been a basketball guy. Like he plays really well. He's a hooper.

But you look at his tape from his junior year to senior year, there was a big jump, so what that tells me is he has a high work ethic and knows what he wants to do, and he knew what his limitations were.

So you watch his senior film, like there is no wonder that he got the accolades he did after the season he had. I'm looking at his tape at the end of the year and looking at some of the other guys we were recruiting and that might have been committed, and I'm like, man, this kid is right in our backyard and one of the best in the class.

So we were looking in the transfer portal for a bigger wide out target. I'm like, this kid, in three years, we would be dying to have, so why are we waiting? Why are we thinking about whether or not to bring him to our campus and have him in our locker room?

So we decided to offer him a scholarship. Brought him up to campus on an official visit, so he got a glimpse of what we are and how he fits. It was an easy, organic transition from being recruited to having like a real relationship and comes from a great family.

I'm excited that he'll be here and be in the summertime. Like I said, he's hooping.

Q. How do you view high school recruiting in terms of overall picture of program building these days?

RYAN WALTERS: You know, it's still huge. We got 23 guys committed right now from the high school ranks. If you look back to before the transfer portal, the craziness that is now, you were allotted 25, so we're two short of that. What that tells you is high school football still matters. High school recruiting still matters.

I do want this to be a developmental program. I knew that the first two cycles were going to have to be transfer portal laden just with the lack of numbers we had, but hopefully moving forward you get to develop guys and have them in your program for three to five years to create culture, standard, and create -- have retention.

It's definitely still hugely important, and hopefully we won't to have dip into the portal as much moving forward.

Q. The stuff all bottlenecks. Signing day here; transfer portal stuff going on. Is the calendar in your mind workable right now? Does the NCAA need to change some things?

RYAN WALTERS: It's not my job to think about what is supposed to be changed or what's good or not good, what could be better, what needs to be done away with.

Any time I'm spending thinking about those things it's taking away from taking advantage of what the calendar is set right now, what the rules are right now.

So it's our job as a staff to just adapt and adjust to what is currently allotted and take advantage of it.

I feel like we've done that.

Q. Ryan, recruiting your own players and kids that are so committed has become even more important over the last couple years. What does that proceeding look like for you?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, relationships matter. The Boilermaker Alliance matters. Retention is at the forefront of what we're trying to do. That's of the utmost importance.

Right now, there is like one guy that I'm like, damn -- excuses my language -- man, I wished we still had him, but everyone else understood it and some of it was encouraged.

So I feel good from that standpoint just on the retention. But retention is not possible and the guys we have committed from the transfer portal is not possible without the Alliance. I think people need to understand that.

These conversations wouldn't even be had, the trips, the official visits wouldn't be possible without the Alliance.

So you look at where we were a year ago, we had some transfer portal guys come in and played some quality minutes for us where we did not have help from the Alliance.

So I'm looking forward to see what that looks like in terms of productivity come the fall.

Q. I think Grant O'Brien maybe had the most success for you guys on the recruiting trail. What have you seen from him in his first year in on on-field role and the recruiting role?

RYAN WALTERS: Just his relentless pursuit of gaining relationships. He is not shy about having uncomfortable conversations, and for lack of a better word, bugging people. He is relentless that way.

He's genuine and authentic, and what you see is what you get with OB. Same guy every day. I think recruits appreciate that consistency.

He's an intelligent individual that cares about this profession for the right reasons, so I think people just gravitate toward that genuine authenticity. I'm happy that he's here. Obviously we've got a history together. It's been fun for me to watch his growth in his career.

Q. How often are you asked about NIL when you're own the road?

RYAN WALTERS: I think every coach in the country will tell you like the amount of times you're not asked about it are shocking. You're like, oh, you don't care about NIL? Like that's the nature of the college football right now.

Q. And then just when you talked about the Boilermaker Alliance, the collective. Again, in your words, sounds like the situation has got better from last year to this year.

RYAN WALTERS: Absolutely. There has been a lot of talks, meetings, and a lot of support. I think Purdue Faithful is understanding the importance, understanding the impact that having a strong collective has on -- in how that affect can have direct correlation to success or lack there of when it comes to competition.

Q. What's next? You said you could have a handful of scholarships open when the spring semester starts. Are you done with the high school kids? There is one more signing period in February. Eight portal guys. Is there any idea the number of new faces that still could be imported into the program?

RYAN WALTERS: I think from a high school standpoint we're probably about done. Like I said, we got 23 guys that are committed and signed. You know, there are a couple more portal guys out there that we're hoping to close here pretty quickly.

Q. Looking at the players you sign and looking to sign, especially on the defensive side, D-line, being linebackers, and all the defensive players, what do you specifically look for in order to fit your schemes that you guys run?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, man, every position is so different, so this could be a long answer. But from a defensive line standpoint, you got to have length and be able to win one-on-one matchups. The way we're structured from a front standpoint sort of creates one-on-one plays throughout the down, right?

You got to have length. Got to be strong and quick and be able to move laterally. If you're on the edge, you've got to be able to be quick of the ball. Again, got to be longer. You're usually going up against offensive tackles or tight ends. You got to be a little bit more athletic than the guys inside.

Linebacker, got to be smart. Communication is key. Got to be able to get downhill. Because the blocks you're getting up front creating one-on-one matchups, usually your gap is exposed and so you can get downhill and you need to get downhill. So being shy or shying away from contact is a no-go. You got to be tough.

In the back end, a lot of the onus on some of our adjustments are -- the onus is put on the back end, so you got to be smart there. It's no secret we play a lot of man-to-man coverage. Got to be technique sound and athletic enough to do so. Got to be able to change directions and run and locate the football.

Then at corner, you got to be tough. Man, it is -- sometimes you're put on an island, so you got to be willing to accept that challenge and thrive in that type of environment and have a short memory.

At the end of the day, defense is about running to the football as fast as you can and getting there with an attitude. All 11 of the guys on the field at that time got to be tough.

Q. Looking at the players coming in, which are you hoping -- which players are you hoping will make an immediate impact like we saw with Dylan Thieneman?

RYAN WALTERS: Hopefully all of them, right? That means we hit a homerun with this class. We wouldn't accept or take anybody and put them in this program if we didn't feel really good about them. You don't just hand out scholarships for favors. Everybody we signed we feel like are going to help us win a championship.

So which player can have an immediate impact? That is entirely up to them. I think that's the beauty of football. The game doesn't care about how old are you, what your skin color is, socio-economic background, or what happened to you yesterday. The game only cares what happened from snap to whistle between the white lines.

Whoever is supposed to be out there playing and making an impact will be out there.

Q. I've heard coaches say a thousand times over the years that junior college players are usually better their second year. What did you see from the two offensive tackles that lead to you believe they can help you right away?

RYAN WALTERS: From the junior college we just signed?

Q. The two junior college offensive linemen.

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, one, they're like physically -- when they walk in the building you're like, okay, they got a shot, you know what I mean?

Jae'kwon is 6'7", 350, and he doesn't look 350. He's put together. Rod is the same way. I think he was like 315, 320. Does not look that way.

So that's why I'm glad they're getting here at semester. Sometimes with junior college guys with their academics, don't get available until May. So it's huge they were able to come in January, because usually the biggest hurdle is getting them used to a Power 5 environment, learning the scheme offensively.

So having eight weeks of workouts before we get started with spring ball will be huge in terms of their physical development and getting their bodies prepared to play football. Spring ball, getting inundated within the scheme and the techniques that Coach Johnson is teaching those guys up front.

Hopefully we can speed up that process and not have to wait until year two for those guys to realize their potential.

Q. With what you want to do offensively, is it more important to have size and power or to be athletic and agile and quick and all that?

RYAN WALTERS: Both. Preferably both. In this conference, you know, the defensive lines you're seeing in this conference are massive. There is the old adage, big people beat up little people. You got to be big in this conference.

With the way we spread it out and they way we go from sideline it sideline, really the way we've been creative in the run game, definitely you got to have some athleticism and be able to pick them up and put them down and move laterally.

Q. Can you just tell us about Koy Beasley and Luke Williams and where they fit positionally.

RYAN WALTERS: We'll see when they get here. Told them that in the recruiting process. I would being lying if I knew exactly what position they'll be playing and exactly what their skillset and strong suits are. I haven't worked with them yet. I've seen them play. I've seen them in their positions currently in high school.

Until I actually get to work with them and try them in multiple positions, I would be lying if I knew exactly where they would fit.

Q. What did you need to see from the defensive backs when they get here to sort out the safeties and the corners?

RYAN WALTERS: Just movement skills. You know, at corner, typically you're a little more athletic in terms of being able to be fluid and change directions and play the ball down the field.

At safety, usually got to be a little tougher in the run game because you're asked to be there more often.

But the way we play, like everybody has to be able to cover and everybody has to be able to tackle. That's why you just take as many athletic DBs as you can and sort them out when they get here.

Q. What do you need in defensive tackles?

RYAN WALTERS: Like I told -- what's your name?

Q. Bree. (Phonetic.)

RYAN WALTERS: Like I told Bree, from our interior guys, you got to have length, you got to be big, and you got to be able to win one-on-one match ups. The way we're structured usually you're getting a one-on-one block.

Q. I think a year ago you said recruiting strategy for you was to lockdown the state and the surrounding states. I know it doesn't happen in 12 months, but you have 13 or 14 recruits from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and then one of the top players in Kentucky and one of the top players in Michigan. Pretty satisfied with the footprint you made in the region?

RYAN WALTERS: You know, I'm satisfied in our targeted areas, but I don't think I'll ever be satisfied where we're at. I like where we're at year one, but, yeah, the moment I'm satisfied I got to get out of here. You guys won't see me at the podium anymore.

This is a competitive place. The basketball is No. 1 in the country and we are definitely not, so no, I'm not satisfied yet.

Q. Ryan, is there a sleeper in this class, a guy that maybe deserves more attention? Do you have any fun anecdotal stories from the road recruiting, any crazy chase scenes or just trying to flag somebody down out on the road?

RYAN WALTERS: Crazy stories? Actually, like today there was no surprises today, so that's awesome. When you go to signing day and you're not like, oh, snap, what's going on, that's usually a good day.

So, yeah, nothing really wild or out of the ordinary. Got eat a lot of good food. Hate to say, but I gained like 12 pounds through this time period. Worked out for the first day yesterday in five weeks, so got to definitely get back on that.

Q. You talked about Donovan earlier. What do you like about the receiver group with Shamar, Jesse, and Tre'mar, and obviously Donovan?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, all of them can run and all of them have really good ball skills. To me, like all of them, like the potential is through the roof. Nobody is polished. Obviously ultra productive otherwise they wouldn't be here.

But their potential, like I said is just -- like I said, we would be looking for a lot of them in the portal three years from now, so definitely excited about that group and what they bring from an athletic and competitive standpoint. All of them have a chip on their shoulder and make game-changing plays. You see it on film.

I'm excited for that.

Q. Staying on offense, that four-man group of Max Parrott and John Randle, Jordan King, offensive line group, how does that group fit together?

RYAN WALTERS: They're already really tight. They got a group chat, thread going on. All of them have gravitated toward one another. Obviously they all fit the bill from a height and weight and measurement standpoint. All of them play a little nasty.

Marcus, or Coach Johnson, has a definite idea of he's looking for from the offensive line position. I thought he did a great job identifying and signing and closing those guys.

Q. If you lump the front five in together, you got two DB tackles in Demeco and Caleb, and then you got two maybe outside linebackers, Jamari and DJ. You can say where you think Jamari will play, but the front five group, what do you think about what was added to the rooms?

RYAN WALTERS: They added what we need, right? You got size and athleticism on your interior and versatility and length on the outside. All these guys -- what I love about this class, too, is especially when you start getting commitments so early, a lot of those guys committed in the summertime after visits, is you worry about their progress their senior year, and all of them, man, they had great senior seasons. That's one thing I'm proud of with this class.

Q. That last cluster of the DB group, big group. What do you like about what you're adding to the defensive back room?

RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, you're adding speed and versatility. I think all of them have position flexibility. A lot of them also play both sides of the ball, so you got ball skills from that standpoint.

Nobody is afraid in that group. Like everybody comes downhill, and when they have a chance to get a good shot on somebody, they do. Looking forward to the competition in that room.