Can you call it an era for Purdue football?

Ryan Walters is out at Boilers’ football coach. Plus two more installments of the BiL Holiday/Seasonal Playlist.

Dec 02, 2024

Support for today’s edition comes from Purdue Convocations, offering 25% all shows for Cyber Monday. Give the gift of live performance this holiday season! Save 25% on tickets to the biggest spring shows at Purdue, including The Mingus Big Band, Hadestown, Pretty Woman: The Musical, Chicago, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at 300 by Les Arts Florissants. Valid TODAY ONLY, Dec. 2, 2024. Limit 6 discounted tickets per show. SHOP NOW

Thanks also to sponsor Duke Energy, lifting up Greater Lafayette Commerce and this year’s Christmas Parade. Experience the magic of the season in downtown Lafayette on Saturday, Dec. 7, with Indiana’s largest Christmas Parade, “A Very Merry Main Street,” lighting up the night at 5:30 p.m. Join nearly 20,000 attendees for an unforgettable celebration of holiday cheer.

RYAN WALTERS OUT AT PURDUE: Less than 24 hours after Purdue was blown out by IU, 66-0, in the Old Oaken Bucket game Saturday night, football coach Ryan Walters was out in West Lafayette. The move came Sunday at the end of a brutal 2024 season and a two-year stint – it’s too much to call it an era, right? – for Walters, who leaves with a 5-19 record. That’s the worst winning percentage of any head coach in Purdue football history. Purdue AD Mike Bobinski, who hired Walters, issued an official statement ahead of a press conference scheduled for Monday: “As college athletics enters an entirely new era in 2025, it's a pivotal time for Purdue, and we must take the steps necessary to best position our football program for success. We are determined to provide the University and our incredibly loyal fans football performance that reflects the excellence of Purdue and is worthy of their continued support.”

Some of Sunday’s coverage:

From Gold and Black reporter Tom Dienhart, who called it “arguably the worst coaching hire in Purdue football annals,” with Walters due more than $9 million in a buyout: “This is a university famous for its patience, renown for moving in measured tones and not making hasty decisions. So, this move on Walters shows how dire the situation is. The football program had become an inferno. Something had to be done … now.” For the rest: “It's over: Purdue pulls plug on Ryan Walters era.”

Gold and Black’s Brian Neubert had a particularly smart, level read with big- and small-picture analysis on how this situation – from Walters’ hiring through a fit that never quite worked – played out. A taste from Neubert’s look: “Lastly, and obviously, blame lies with Walters himself, for not knowing what he didn’t know. He thought he had all the answers on his first day and wound up proven to have had none on his last day. The issue to me that stuck out right away about Walters — and I know this sounds like hindsight being 20/20 — is that he was clearly a creature of ambition when he got to Purdue based on his path to it and what happened was he got what he wanted too quickly, before he had spent enough time around really good, established coaches and accrued enough wisdom to be ready for the job when his time came.” Read the full piece here: “The end for Ryan Walters at Purdue and what may lie ahead.”
From Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel: “It looks hopeless right now for Purdue football. Just say it: Hopeless. The Boilermakers have rarely been good at football and not a serious conference contender in decades, and the Big Ten is nearly twice as large — and difficult — as it used to be. The Boilermakers fired second-year coach Ryan Walters on Sunday because two numbers left them no choice: 1-11, Purdue’s record in 2024, and 66-0 — the score of that loss Saturday night at rival IU.” For the full column: “Purdue football was hopeless under Ryan Walters. He's gone. Hope is back.”
J&C reporter Sam King and Indianapolis Star reporter Nathan Baird had this look at some of the potential candidate to replace Walters: “Who will Boilers pick to replace Ryan Walters?”
Gold and Black’s Tom Dienhart had this on who could be next: “Purdue football head coach Hot board 1.0.”
As for the finances, Baird had those details in the IndyStar: “What did it cost Purdue to fire football coach Ryan Walters after just two seasons?”

TODAY’S READER PICKS: A BASED IN LAFAYETTE HOLIDAY PLAYLIST

Let’s continue assembly of a Based in Lafayette Holiday/Seasonal Playlist with two entries.

Through Christmas (and maybe beyond), BiL will curate three songs a day from readers. The assignment isn’t necessarily about the best or most iconic songs of the season. Just songs that you’d want in the mix and why they belong. Enjoy.

For the full playlist, as it grows, check the link at the bottom of today’s contributions. Starting with …

Matt Conaway

Matt Conaway is a professor of bands at Purdue University, a composer and arranger of band music, and the conductor of the Lafayette Citizens Band.

“Somewhere In My Memory,” John Williams, from the “Home Alone” soundtrack – This song is one of my favorite holiday pieces; it captures all the nostalgia of the season, but done in a more modern way through the lens of a legendary film composer.

“Mary, Did You Know,” recorded by Voctave – Voctave is one of the finest a cappella recording groups ever. While the text’s quality has been debated, the music itself is stellar, and Voctave has given this song the royal treatment.

“I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas,” Gayla Peevey – The song is ridiculous; it’s an earworm that won’t go away. It’s on this list purely because it makes my partner and I laugh every time it comes on, and that’s good enough to add it to this holiday playlist!

Patrick Brown

From Patrick Brown: “I am a local musician (guitarist, producer, songwriter, composer) known for Three Cities, bndnm gnr8r and collaborating with local creators to provide arrangements, compositions and recordings for projects ranging from singles to short films. Most recently, I worked with local musicians and Rec Room Recording (TAF) to produce and record a wall of sound-style version of my opening song suggestion, ‘Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis’ by Tom Waits (releasing Dec. 6).”

"Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis," Tom Waits – I remember hearing this song for the first time casually flipping channels as a teenager and stumbling across Austin City Limits -- I saw this lone man sitting at a piano singing with cookie monster vocals, and while I didn't quite "get it" at the time, there was something so sincere and heartfelt about the delivery that I couldn't help be mesmerized. Years later, this song still gets me every time with its lyrics about the writers need to keep up appearances around the holidays.

"Come on Christmas," Auralnauts and Willeson – For anyone familiar with Auralnauts' work in masterfully re-editing and overdubbing the entire Star Wars saga into a ‘90s high school comedy where the party boy Jedi keep crashing the legitimate businesses of humble galactic entrepreneur Palpatine, you might be surprised to know they also put out one of the top high-energy Christmas party bops of the last two years. The resounding lyrical theme of "come on, come on Christmas" draws us ever deeper into a whirlwind of holiday cheer and shoegaze deadpan.

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas," The Craig Gildner Sextet and Tony Liberto – A holiday classic played in a classic way. I first heard this version at the end of the Hawkeye Disney+ series and was immediately transported to an Olive Garden in the North Pole. Grab yourself a cocktail and some unlimited soups, it's time to celebrate the holidays!

Your turn

What three songs are going into your holiday/seasonal playlist this year? If you’re game share, here’s all we need:

Three songs and the artists.
One or two sentences about why you chose each one – could be a memory or a short history or review about why that track belongs in your mix and why you’d recommend it to others.
A little bit about you to let readers know who’s making the picks.

Send to: davebangert1@gmail.com

Based in Lafayette, Indiana