{"id":72236,"date":"2025-02-07T15:00:31","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T20:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=72236"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:39:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:39:02","slug":"ryan-walters-outlines-washingtons-goals-on-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/02\/07\/ryan-walters-outlines-washingtons-goals-on-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Walters Outlines Washington’s Goals On Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Walters was the first and only choice as the next defensive coordinator at Washington according to Jedd Fisch. At a press conference on Monday. Fisch called Walters the \u201cbest defensive coordinator in the country.\u201d Walters\u2019 response was, \u201cI agree.\u201d The new coordinator had successful stints in charge of the defenses at Missouri and at Illinois. That earned him a head coaching job at Purdue. It only lasted two seasons, but what Walters learned in West Lafayette combined with his pedigree on the defensive side of the football make him the optimal defensive coordinator at Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryan Walters Outlines Washington’s Goals On Defense<\/h2>\n

Why Washington?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWashington checked all those boxes,\u201d Walters said of his non-negotiables. He referenced his familiarity with the conference, having coached in the Big Ten since 2021. The location is convenient for him with his parents being in the area as well. But beyond that, Walters said it was, \u201cBecause of who Coach Fisch is, what his experience is.\u201d The player development aspect and \u201cBe A Pro\u201d mantra were important to Walters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The day after Walters was let go by Purdue, he took his family to Disney World. He said he was fortunate from a financial standpoint to have the time and option to evaluate his next step. But by day three, he knew he wanted to get back into coaching. \u201cYou get the itch to be a part of a team, you miss the relationships\u2026 you miss competing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ryan Walters Defense<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Shortly after he was hired at Washington, we took a deep dive into the schematics of Walters\u2019 defense at Illinois<\/a>. But on Monday we got a chance to hear about his defense from Walters himself. \u201cThere are things that are musts on defense,\u201d Walters began. \u201cEffort and physicality. We\u2019ll be great in the red zone, we\u2019ll be great on third down, and we\u2019ll be great at taking the football away.\u201d Illinois finished first in the nation with 24 interceptions during the 2022 season. They finished ninth in third down conversion percentage allowed (30%) and first in red zone touchdown percentage allowed (35.5%). The numbers speak to what Walters\u2019 goals are, and he plans to replicate them in Seattle.<\/span><\/p>\n

To achieve these goals, there will be some wrinkles compared to last season. Walters\u2019 defense will play a lot more man coverage than the average team. The base look is likely to be cover one with a five-man defensive front, something he’s done at every stop. He took a talented secondary at Illinois, refined their technique, and produced one of the best pass defenses in the nation in 2022. At the same time, his defensive front<\/a> included two players with double-digit tackles for loss on the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping The Roots<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Schematically, it won’t be a night and day shift from what Washington was a year ago. But as the tape shows and as he confirmed, Walters\u2019 priorities on defense include showing different looks up front and being aggressive. \u201cI believe in presenting different pictures up front, attacking offenses, especially on early downs to give advantageous third down situations.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Walters coached under Bret Bielema at Illinois. Prior to his current tenure in Champaign, Bielema spent two seasons with the New England Patriots. He was a consultant to Bill Belichick in 2018, and the team\u2019s defensive line coach in 2019. Steve Belichick<\/a> was an assistant coach on the defense during that time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amidst the coaching turnover, Fisch prioritized maintaining the roots of the defensive system that was installed last season under Belichick. After Belichick left for North Carolina, \u201cI was researching who had ties to that system,\u201d Fisch said. \u201cThe fact that Bret Bielema came from New England the year before I [went to New England]. He went to Illinois, and when hired coach Walters, then I knew that there was a really good tie in that the system didn\u2019t have to completely be revamped.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Head Coaching Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Walters had just five wins in two seasons at Purdue, but the perspective that head coaching experience brings to being a coordinator is valuable. \u201cYou have a broader sense of the program and a different perspective,\u201d Walters said. \u201cThat will help the managing aspect of being a coordinator.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The back half of last season at Purdue provided Walters with another unique look at the chess match between the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. \u201cI was also more heavily involved in the offensive side of the ball towards the end of the year last year.\u201d Walters took over play-calling duties in October after the Boilermakers fired their offensive coordinator. \u201cSeeing the game from that lens, and learning the ins and outs of how offenses are trying to attack a defense, and what they\u2019re looking at,\u201d Walters described, \u201cI think will pay dividends moving forward as a defensive coordinator.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recruiting Footprint<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In terms of Walters\u2019 as a recruiter, we saw what he did in a short stint at Purdue<\/a>. He added transfers who made immediate impacts on the defense and landed three highly rated defensive backs in the class of 2024. At Washington, he\u2019ll have the opportunity to recruit in the other half of the country. \u201cThis recruiting cycle has been fun, just to get back on the West Coast,\u201d he said. \u201cThe logo is very well received out this way.\u201d The majority of Walters\u2019 recruiting footprint has been throughout the Midwest and in the Eastern half of the country. A few of his top recruited players include four-star Jalani Williams<\/a> (\u201819) out of Saint Louis and four-star Tarrion Grant<\/a> (\u201824) out of Tennessee.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been very pleasantly surprised at the level of ball out this way, [and] the level of coaching out this way,\u201d Walters said of the high school landscape in Washington. \u201cRecruiting is about relationships, and that\u2019s something I take pride in.\u201d He\u2019s off to a fast start as he\u2019s been on the road with the defensive staff making visits and extending offers to recruits. That includes four-star athlete Davon Benjamin Jr. out of California who has Washington in his final eight. Also, three-star defensive lineman Tufanua Ionatana \u201cTI\u201d Umu-Cais out of Colorado.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Best 11 Will Play<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ultimately, Walters holds true to the idea that the best players will play. \u201cThe only thing that matters is what you put on tape from snap to whistle,\u201d Walters recalled the impact that a true freshman had during the 2023 season at Purdue to strengthen his point. \u201cI had a true freshman safety start game one,\u201d Walters recalled. \u201cAnd [he] ended up with like 112 tackles, six picks, and was third-team All-American.\u201d That player was Dillon Thieneman<\/a>, who had just four offers from Power schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you turn on the tape and the tape says you\u2019re ready to go play and compete, and try and help the University win a championship, then your butt better be out there playing.\u201d Walters continued to reiterate that it\u2019s his job as a defensive coordinator and the job of the defensive staff to give every player enough tools to have success. In this age of college football where players flow in and out from year to year, incoming freshmen have the talent to compete right away, and returning players are fighting to keep their spots, Walters\u2019 emphasis is on not over-complicating things to let the best players rise to the top.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Image: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ryan Walters was the first and only choice as the next defensive coordinator at Washington according to Jedd Fisch. At a press conference on Monday. Fisch called Walters the \u201cbest defensive coordinator in the country.\u201d Walters\u2019 response was, \u201cI agree.\u201d The new coordinator had successful stints in charge of the defenses at Missouri and at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3944,"featured_media":72316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,35612],"tags":[1666,10272,509],"class_list":["post-72236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-washington-huskies","tag-jedd-fisch","tag-ryan-walters","tag-washington-huskies"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72236"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72288,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72236\/revisions\/72288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}