Ryan Walters is entrusted with bringing the UW defense back up to speed. Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Walters' Defensive Coordinator Reputation Still Carries Weight

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated May 27, 2025 8:31 PM ET

In February, Jedd Fisch introduced new University of Washington defensive coordinator, Ryan Walters, and described him as the "best in the country."

While that wasn't unexpected, because Fisch tends to over-inflate things at times, Walters' response was mildly surprising.

"I agree," he responded.

Walters drew laughs, but he wasn't kidding.

Whereas his head-coaching resume would send him in a totally opposite direction -- with a 5-19 record, 1-11 last season, at Purdue -- he has a track record of putting together defenses that have been nationally ranked at more than one previous stop.

"That's what I've done," he said. "The last time I was in charge of calling plays and running a defense, we did something special at Illinois in a two-year span. Also, we had a lot of success at Mizzou in a tough conference. I've never been more motivated, more hungry, to get back to that."

On Tuesday, The Big Ten Huddle website ranked the Big Ten's defensive coordinators on a pair of lists and Walters turned up in the upper third of the conference, or just on the cusp of it -- at sixth and seventh, respectively.

Ranking the Big Ten Defensive Coordinators entering into 2025 by @jrs_rankings & @CFBwSam

WATCH: https://t.co/uGOtX5VVFe pic.twitter.com/SsqbFjg6wp
— The Big Ten Huddle ️ (@TheBigTenHuddle) May 26, 2025

Whether or not he's better or worse than that, Walters likely will be a step up from his predecessor, Steve Belichick, who was a first-time defensive coordinator last season at any level of football -- and it showed at times.

His Husky defense gave up 35 or more points in three of its final four games, and 31 or more in five of its last seven outings, with a high of 40 at Indiana. The Huskies at times couldn't stop anyone.

Now comes Walters, who has four of the 11 defensive starters returning from the Sun Bowl, which is three more than Belichick was left with from the UW's 2024 national championship game appearance.

During spring ball, Walters showed himself on the field to be a no-nonsense coach, occasionally barking at players when they weren't doing what was asked by him and his staff.

Fisch insists the Husky defense largely will line up the same this season, but Walters' 5-1-5 alignment at tiems in spring was definitely different. One more defensive lineman, one fewer linebacker.

He also went all of the spring without five potential defensive starters, which was both a pro and a con, while these guys were coming off injuries.

It was a significant amount of talent, some of it new, to go without for all 15 practices in edge rusher Zach Durfee, defensive tackle Jayvon Parker, linebacker Jacob Manu, and cornerbacks Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis. All of them could be NFL players someday.

Yet by not having them for spring scrimmages was counterproductive, Walters surely was able to take the replacements and create competition if not build some depth in their absence.

A truer test will be to see how well Walters' defense, when fully pieced together, fares against the likes of Ohio State and Michigan.

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This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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