I have to give Walters credit where it is due. I think the biggest recruiting job he has done is keeping the talent that was already in the program here. Much easier to sell guys in house to stay in house vs. having to go outside and replace them....and then bring in new players on top of that. I think we had a max of like 11 guys in the portal and can only think of 5 that have actually left to this point....and 3 of those (the DL) that I had slotted as leaving anyhow to the "draft".
Would be interesting to see the average roster turnover in a program just in general from year to year. Throw in a coaching change and I would say we are STILL way below average in how many players have left/entered the portal. Gotta give kudos there. OR....maybe we don't? Maybe kids who come to Purdue love Purdue so much that it doesn't matter who the coach is...they are here because they love the school, players, community, etc.
Now, I don't fully buy what I said above....as if we start losing kids will jump off the sinking ship in droves (just look at any other losing CFB program in the past 2-3 years) but Walters made his job much easier keeping the talent that was already in town here vs. having to recruit the portal AND C/O2023 and 2024 guys to fill a huge number of spots. I said that the Purdue job SHOULD have been a premium destination for a coach this cycle. With the talent that was returning coming off of an 8 win season, this was NOT a total rebuild. Walters seems like a smart guy....hopefully that means we have a leg up on Wisky, Nebraska, etc. moving forward!
Would be interesting to see the average roster turnover in a program just in general from year to year. Throw in a coaching change and I would say we are STILL way below average in how many players have left/entered the portal. Gotta give kudos there. OR....maybe we don't? Maybe kids who come to Purdue love Purdue so much that it doesn't matter who the coach is...they are here because they love the school, players, community, etc.
Now, I don't fully buy what I said above....as if we start losing kids will jump off the sinking ship in droves (just look at any other losing CFB program in the past 2-3 years) but Walters made his job much easier keeping the talent that was already in town here vs. having to recruit the portal AND C/O2023 and 2024 guys to fill a huge number of spots. I said that the Purdue job SHOULD have been a premium destination for a coach this cycle. With the talent that was returning coming off of an 8 win season, this was NOT a total rebuild. Walters seems like a smart guy....hopefully that means we have a leg up on Wisky, Nebraska, etc. moving forward!
