‘I really like Coach Walt. I love him to death. I’m just excited for him’

Jer’Zhan Newton’s face lights up when you ask him about Ryan Walters.

“He’s definitely a player’s coach,” says Newton, Illinois’ star defensive lineman. “He called to check in on us often. He loved all of us. He still loves all of us.”

Newton got all of that loving–and coaching–under the wing of Walters, the Illini defensive coordinator the last two years. Newton lived it–and loved it–helping, the Illini program reach its first bowl since 2019 last season.

Now, “Coach Walt” is off to be head coach of Purdue.

“He knows football like the back of his hand,” says Illinois defensive lineman Keith Randolph. “He knows it very, very well. And he’s just a great guy, great coach, great person. Relates to all of his players very well and treats everybody the same. I really like Coach Walt. I love him to death. I’m just excited for him.”

Can you feel the love yet?

Walters’ work in Champaign helped him be the (somewhat surprising) pick to take over a Purdue program that is coming off a Big Ten West title. His work last year–Illinois had the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation–was his crowning achievement in a fast-track career that has him leading a Big Ten program at 37.

The whiz-kid with the bright mind and big biceps has begun to take the wraps off his first head coaching job, installing a unique five-man front defense that is his calling card.

“The scheme that he brings to the table is meant to stop the run,” says Newton. “The Big Ten is a running league, so I think it fit perfectly for us. And then on the back end, we had great cornerbacks.

“I just remember one game, he only called two or three different plays. But he knew we could execute it. And there was no need to open his playbook. What we were doing was working. I wanted him to call some other stuff. But, he was like, ‘No, it’s not broke.’ The majority of the time, the plays he called were spot-on.”

Is it a tough scheme to learn?

“I don’t think it was that hard,” said Newton. “He keeps things simple where we can learn, get it down pat in a day or even the day of the game. I think it’s easy, personally. Up front, he keeps it simple for us. There isn’t a lot we can do.”

What’s Walters’ style on game days?

“Tenacious,” says Randolph. “Confident in his calls. I can go on and on and on about how he coaches, how his coaching style is. But, overall, he just relates to his players very well. He wants to win football games.

“When you have great players, great coaches, great ideas, it’s going to work. He had vision and the players had the will to do it.”

On September 30th, Newton and Randolph will face their old coach when Illinois visits West Lafayette in the battle for the Cannon.

“They’re the defending West champs. I haven’t beaten Purdue since I’ve been here,” said Newton. “So, I got a lot of respect for those boys.”

For Randolph, there will be no sentimentality.

“Business is business,” he says.

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