Josh Heupel is in the midst of making one of the most important hires of his Tennessee tenure after firing defensive coordinator Tim Banks on Monday. The most prominent name early in the search is Washington defensive coordinator Ryan Walters.
Walters coached with Josh Heupel at Missouri, giving the two familiarity which is something Heupel has prioritized in some of his past hires. The 39-year old addressed the opening on Tuesday while meeting with the Washington local media.
“Pretty easy, like connect dots. I’ve obviously coached with a lot of those guys in the past,” Walters said. “I respect them, fully. But rumors are just rumors. I’ve had zero communication with anyone over there about any kind of job that is open there. If I was a media member, I’d connect the same dots as well. That makes sense. But right now those are just rumors.”
Walters’ answer was largely coach speak but the most interesting part is that he has had no communication with Tennessee about the opening. That doesn’t mean his agent hasn’t had any communication with Tennessee but it does pump the brakes a bit around the early buzz around his candidacy.
One important note is that Washington plays in the Bucked Up LA Bowl on Saturday night against Boise State. Walters’ focus is likely on wrapping up this season before exploring his other coaching options. When asked if he will be back at Washington next season, Walters provided broad no answer.
“I hope so. I really enjoy this place,” Walters said. “Right now, I am the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington and we’re playing against Boise State on Saturday. I enjoy Seattle. My family lives here and love it here. That’s just where we’re at right now.”
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Washington will certainly want Walters back for a second season. The Huskies went from 55th nationally in scoring defense in 2024 to 22nd this season during Walters’ first year as defensive coordinator. Walters led Illinois’ defense to a national-best 12.8 points per game allowed back in 2022.
Between his time at Illinois and Washington, Walters had a failed tenure as head coach at Purdue where the Boilermakers went just 5-19 during his two seasons as head coach. But despite that failed tenure, Walters is one of the better defensive coaches in the country.
Walters has a pair of overlap with Josh Heupel during his coaching career. They spent two years together at Missouri where Heupel was offensive coordinator and Walters was co-defensive coordinator. Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle was a quality control coach on that staff while Vols’ offensive line coach Glen Elarbee held the same role with the Tigers.
There’s also overlap at Oklahoma in 2012 when Walters was a graduate assistant. Heupel was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma that year while Halzle was also a graduate assistant.
One last connection— Tennessee inside linebackers coach William Inge was Colorado’s defensive line coach in 2005. Walters was a sophomore safety on that Colorado team.
