Purdue Football - Spring Practice Marks the Start of a New Football Era

On December 5th, Jeff Brohm announced he'd be leaving the Purdue football program to take over his alma mater, Louisville, and it kick started a whirlwind of events within Purdue football that culminated in naming Ryan Walters the new Head Coach eight days later. Brohm's uncertainty within the program left the program filled with uncertainty and question marks, but Walters arrival has replaced that energy with excitement and anticipation for the next era of Purdue football.

After months of getting acclimated to his first head coaching job, hitting the recruiting trail, and assembling his full staff, Ryan Walters was ready to finally get on the practice field. Walters has been an assistant coach in multiple roles and schools since 2009 and now gets the opportunity to run the show with the Boilermakers.

"I was happy that we made it through a practice. This is my first practice as a head coach for me personally," Walters said. "Day one, obviously, so there's a lot of things to correct, but just the attitude, the effort. A lot of guys are competing. There's good back and forth. Not a whole lot of mental errors, so that was good to see."

As all of the changes begin, Walters is focused on putting in the work this spring. The main goal for the Boilermakers over the next month is improvement.

"Goal's just to keep improving. [We've] got to find an identity of who we are offensively and defensively, what we're good at. Trying to find out exactly who we got on the roster and what they're capable of doing," Walters said.

Tuesday was the first time Purdue's 2023 roster was able to have an official practice, which follows two and a half months of strength and conditioning workouts at the direction of Kiero Small. The next few weeks will allow the brand-new coaching staff to evaluate what the Boilermakers have and what they could potentially look to add in the transfer portal.

"The goal of spring is to figure out what we need. Obviously, day one coming off the grass, I don't know what that answer is yet," Walters said.

Purdue has already been active in the transfer portal this off-season, adding quarterback Hudson Card along with potential starters in Isaiah Nichols, Jalen Grant, and Salim Turner-Muhammad.

That list figures to grow during the May transfer window. As for the current Boilermakers, they are competing for their job during each and every rep heading into next season. Walters has spoken about competition and players coming into the spring with a clean slate.

What Purdue shows on the field over the next month will dictate how much the roster could change before fall camp in August.

"I mean, there's a winner and a loser in everything that we do. This is a results driven business," Walters said.

That opportunity for the Boilermakers to finally showcase their skills in front of the new coaching staff brings a level of excitement around the roster. Fifth-year senior safety Cam Allen was intrigued heading into the first practice but shared that he and his teammates feel they will fit well with their new coaches.

"We couldn't wait to get out here and see how they yell at us, stuff like that. But yeah, seeing how they interact with us on the field. I mean, I think everybody loves them so far. We haven't had [any] complaints," Allen said.

According to senior inside linebacker Jacob Wahlberg, along with that excitement has been a sense of belief amongst the players. Walters and defensive coordinator Kevin Kane bring a defense to West Lafayette that was one of the best in the country at Illinois last season.

With the opportunities that lie ahead and the track record of Walters and company, they might have been around for the last regime at Purdue, but they are the new era Boilermaker football, too.

"I think everyone has a chip on their shoulder. They're all ready to get to work, and we've all really bought into Coach Walters' system. You know, the way he does things and the guys he's brought in, it's genuine, and a lot of guys have gotten behind that," Wahlberg said.

After four years of playing under different schemes, Cam Allen and several other veteran defensive players will transition into a new-look defense heading into 2023. The learning process and implementing that new mindset begins now. Allen shared that having success now will lead to bigger and better things as the season approaches in the fall.

"I think it's very important, you know, spring, I think that leads into fall," Allen said. "Once you get all the information down and stuff like that, you want to be able to get all that in spring."

Along with learning new schemes and putting in the work on the practice field, the Boilermakers will also be looking to build their chemistry and cohesion among each other and the coaches. It is something that star running back Devin Mockobee says has already been a success.

"It's been really positive for all of us," Mockobee said. "The chemistry between all of us is really well. I really like the coaches, and they really like us, so I think it's gonna work really well for all of us."

Walters and the pair of defenders aren't the only ones excited for the chance to get back out on the field. A new system on both sides of the ball and fresh coaching staff have the players chomping at the bit to begin work this spring.

For the returning Mockobee, just having the chance to play football again excites him.

"I mean, I was just really excited to get back into playing football, getting the pads on, so I'm really excited for when we actually get full pads on and we start hitting," Mockobee said.

After breaking onto the scene last season, Mockobee enters 2023 with a more prominent role within the Boilermakers' offense.

The former walk-on turned top ten rusher in the Big Ten headlines the returning contributors after the departures of Aidan O'Connell, Charlie Jones, and Payne Durham.

"I feel like I've definitely been thrust into a little bit more of a role now," Mockobee said. "I still consider myself still a younger guy, because there's guys that I still consider seniority over me, but I definitely take what I can, and I try and help the team as a whole."

After just one day of practice, the process of ushering in a new era of Purdue football is long from finished, but Ryan Walters is happy with the start the Boilermakers have gotten off to.

"We've got a long way to go, but I'm pleased with where we're at," Walters said.

Purdue will have had 15 practices by the end of April, with the hope that they will continue to build off of the foundation set on Tuesday. Maintaining the three core pillars Walters preaches will help them do that.

"I mean, we've got a lot of things that we're hanging our hat on, you know. Our three sort of foundational pillars, if you will, are just being competitive, being tough, and being disciplined," Walters said. "I think in every phase of the game, if that is our identity, then we'll have a chance to be successful in the fall."

Throughout the spring practice process, Walters believes competition will heighten the play of his players and help establish the type of culture he aims to establish in West Lafayette.

"In the fall, people keep score. So we've got to understand that, have a sense of urgency in everything we do, whether that's individual, seven on seven or team, the mindset's gotta be I'm competing because somebody's keeping score," Walters said.