Purdue Board of Trustees approves contract for Ryan Walters
It’s official: Purdue coach Ryan Walters has a contract.
The Board of Trustees approved Walters’ maiden deal during a meeting on Friday morning in Stewart Center on the West Lafayette campus. Key points of the contract for the first-time head coach:
• 5-year deal
• $4 million annual base
• $50,000 annual raise to base
• $1.5 performance base bonus potential tethered to three areas: academics, team, personal
“It’s a standard contract form for head coach these days,” said Purdue A.D. Mike Bobinski. “It’s very similar to what we had in place with previous head coaches. There’s nothing I think that’s particularly unique or distinctive in terms of the elements. Head coach contracts are pretty much what they are these days.
“As time goes by, and as Ryan has success, as I expect he will, we certainly believe that we’ll be back at the table in the years ahead. And we would welcome that. Because I have every expectation that he’s going to be really successful over his time here with us.”
• Purdue football coach Ryan Walters’ contract details
The assistant coach salary pool is $5.5 million, according to Bobinski. Jeff Brohm’s assistant pool would have been $4.6 million this year had he remained at Purdue instead of leaving for Louisville.
“The thing is, we never used all of the money,” said Bobinski.
Assistant coach contracts have yet to be signed. It’s believed there will be a mix of two- and three-deals. It’s thought offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, defensive coordinator Kevin Kane and associate head coach/receivers coach Cory Patterson will have three-year deals. The other assistants are projected to have two-year contracts.
Walters was introduced as Boilermaker coach on December 13. He came to West Lafayette from Illinois, where he was defensive coordinator the previous two seasons.
Walters is one of three new coaches in the Big Ten. Nebraska hired Matt Rhule, while Wisconsin tabbed Luke Fickell.
According to published reports, Rhule received an eight-year contract worth $74 million. He will make $5.5 million annually until the end of 2023, then see increases in base salary up to $12.5 million by 2030. The deal averages $9.25 million per year.
Fickell is set to earn nearly $7.9 million annually on a seven-year deal with Wisconsin, according to reports. He will make $7.5 million in the 2023 season, with his salary increasing by $100,000 each year. All told, Fickell can earn $57 million over the course of the contract.
Per published reports, the highest-paid Big Ten coaches in 2022 were Michigan State’s Mel Tucker and Ohio State’s Ryan Day, who each made $9.5 million. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh earned $7.05 in 2022, while Penn State’s James Franklin earned $7 million. Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald made $5.7 million.
