Prove to be reliable.
That’s what Ryan Wallace used to write on the grease board in the tight ends room when he was a G.A. at Western Kentucky.
“Whenever your number was called, prove to be reliable,” said Tyler Higbee, who sat in that room and learned from Wallace. “Your teammates and coaches can trust you when it’s your turn to make a play.”
Higbee is now a fourth-year starting tight end with the Los Angeles Rams. And a big reason why is because of Wallace, who was named Purdue’s tight ends coach and special teams assistant in April. But back from 2013-15, Wallace was a graduate assistant for Western Kentucky. In 2014 and 2015, Wallace was working for Jeff Brohm at WKU.
When Brohm got the Purdue job, he tabbed Wallace as an offensive/special teams quality control assistant. At the time, Wallace was tight ends coach at Austin Peay. It has been a quick ascent for Wallace.
“I am not surprised,” said Ryan’s father, Kevin Wallace, a long-time successful high school coach in Kentucky. “Jeff gave him a lot of responsibility. I know there aren’t a lot of 29-year assistant coaches in the Big Ten. I get that. It means you are gonna live with pressure. When you are at that level, you better be able to handle it. I think he’ll be fine. I think he’ll work his rear off. He will be a good teacher and have good relationships with the staff and players.”
Higbee saw that first hand. He had the unique perspective of first playing alongside Wallace at Western Kentucky as a fellow tight end—to then being coached by him for two years.
“He always knew his stuff, knew what he was talking about,” said Higbee. “He was a hard worker on and off the field, and that helped him make the transition to coaching.
“He was a GA, but Brohm gave him the tight end room. He didn’t have the official title.”
Wallace--who turned 29 in March--always was an “old soul,” someone who was mature for their age and had a passion for football ... along with the Atlanta Braves and NASCAR (Ryan is a big Kyle Busch fan).
“Football is all he has ever known,” said Kevin Wallace.
Young Ryan was always around his father, who coached for 32 years between Warren East and Bowling Green High, compiling a 299-102 record. Wallace was at his best at Bowling Green, where he went 254-41 in 22 years with five state titles and 10 regional championships. Wallace moved to Louisville in 2018 and took over St. Xavier’s program.
“He didn’t know anything other than being around a locker room, being around practice fields,” said Kevin Wallace.
“He is smart. He loves film, so that means he loves studying the game. He loves studying players, he loves evaluating in recruiting. If you don’t love those things, I think it’s hard to be overly successful in the college game. It’s not just about rolling the balls out to play. He has an opportunity to do so many things with Jeff.”
Brohm seemingly has been grooming Wallace for this move. When tight ends/special teams coach Mark Tommerdahl left for a position at Texas Tech in February, Brohm had Wallace take over the tight ends for spring drills. And Brohm made it permanent in April.
“He is experienced and so young at the same time,” said Cole Herdman, a former Purdue tight end who worked with Wallace the previous two seasons and recently signed a free-agent deal with the Baltimore Ravens. “He knew so much more than we thought. He was very helpful.
“He knows how to talk to younger guys. He communicates well with the players. He does a good job analyzing the field and telling you what’s going on. He was really helpful in the film room and on the field.”
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Wallace was a very good tight end himself, perhaps drawing on the genes of mother Dana who played on two Final Four teams at Western Kentucky in the mid-1980s. Coming out of Bowling Green High, Wallace accepted a scholarship from Dan Hawkins to play at Colorado. But after a year in Boulder, Wallace transferred to Western Kentucky to be closer to home for family reasons.
“Ryan has played for a lot of different people,” said Kevin Wallace. “He has been exposed to a bunch of different coaching styles. He ended up playing for Willie Taggert at Western Kentucky. He played for Coach Hawkins, he coached with (Bobby) Petrino. Will Healy (Austin Peay now Charlotte). Even though he is just 29, he has a pretty good background.”
But instead of football, Wallace almost pursued a career working in a NASCAR pit crew.
“Had Coach Petrino not called to offer him the GA job (in 2013), he probably was on his way,” said Kevin Wallace. “He had gone a week earlier to work out as a pit crew guy. He had two contract offers from different race teams (Rousch and Stewart-Haas). And that is what he was getting ready to do. He had a contract offer … “
Instead, Ryan Wallace is working his way up the coaching ladder.
“Fortunately, he made the decision to go work for Coach Petrino as an offensive line GA,” said Kevin Wallace. “Jeff (Brohm) was there. He stayed two years with Jeff at Western. When the GA stuff was over, he went to Austin Peay and worked for a year. When Jeff went to Purdue, he was excited about the opportunity to work with him again. He loves working for him. He knew so many of those guys on that staff. It was a good situation for him.”
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