Purdue’s Ryan Walters Has Blunt Response to Michigan Sign-Stealing Allegations

Purdue coach Ryan Walters added some spice to Week 10’s matchup with No. 2 Michigan. During his weekly radio show, the first-year coach directly addressed the allegations of sign-stealing against the Wolverines.

“It’s unfortunate,” Walters said to host Tim Newton, per the Lafayette Journal & Courier. “What’s crazy is they aren’t allegations. It happened.”

“There’s video evidence. There’s ticket purchases and sales that you can track back,” the coach added. “We know for a fact that they were at a number of our games.”

Walters’s remarks came shortly after ESPN reported that Big Ten coaches met with commissioner Tony Pettitti to demand that action be taken against Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh. Some coaches commented anonymously after the conference call, but Walters responded after being directly asked in a public forum about how the Boilermakers were preparing for the game. 

#Purdue head coach Ryan Walters’ full response when asked about Michigan’s sign stealing investigation ahead of Saturday’s matchup:

???? (Ryan Walters Show/@PurdueSports) pic.twitter.com/PLrpjNmAdN

— Dub Jellison (@DubJellison) November 2, 2023

“We’ve had to teach our guys a new language in terms of some signals and we’ll operate different offensively,” Walters said. “You might see us in a huddle for the first time this season. So it is what it is, but we’re excited to go play and I think it would make for a great story.” 

Walters is in his first season as Purdue’s head coach after two seasons at Illinois as defensive coordinator. The Boilermakers are 2–6 overall and tied for last place in the Big Ten West division at 1–4. Last season, Purdue won the West and played Michigan in the Big Ten championship game, where they lost 43–22 before coach Jeff Brohm left for Louisville.