IlliniGuys.com will be your source for this news of the Illinois defensive coordinator search all along the way beginning with this initial list of likely candidates to replace Ryan Walters’ spot on Bret Bielema’s staff.
By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst
December 13, 2022
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Ryan Walters has been named the next head coach at Purdue and will likely next see the Illinois football program when the two Big Ten Western Division rivals play in West Lafayette on Sept. 30, 2023.
“Congratulations to Coach Walters on taking the head coaching job at Purdue,” Bielema said in a statement released by the University of Illinois athletics department. “Ryan is a talented coach with a bright future. We thank him and his family for everything they did for our program. This is something that I had seen coming for a while now. We have had a plan in place that we will unveil in the coming weeks that will position Illinois Football for sustained success in 2023 and for years to come.”
Now begins the job of Illinois head coach Bret Bielema to replace his first and only defensive coordinator hire since arriving at Champaign and was a finalist for the 2022 Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach in college football.
