Illinois head coach Bret Bielema poached him from Eli Drinkwitz’s staff at Missouri after his fourth year as a defensive coordinator there. He moved to North Texas for the 2013 season, where he coached corners and helped lead UNT to a 9-4 record in its first year in Conference USA and a win in the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl. Gavin Good is the University of Illinois correspondent for Gannett Illinois. His Badger defenses … On Friday afternoon, Walters gave insight into his decision, which could be viewed as a lateral move — especially when jumping from the SEC to a lower-tier Big Ten program. “What I’ve learned throughout my career is that you’ve got to do what’s best suited for your roster, and not try to make your roster do what you want them to do,” Walters said. In scoring defense, Southern improved from 10th (40.7) to 6th (23.0) — nearly cutting in half the amount of points allowed from the previous season. Walters has had an impressive run at Missouri where he has overseen an impressive transformation of the Tiger defense into one of the SEC's top units. “I like to close the middle of the field and like to confuse and harass the quarterback. A native of Aurora, Colorado, Walters played collegiately at Colorado, where he was a standout safety for the Buffaloes (2004-08). Walters and his wife Tara have two sons, Aaron and Cason. “I thought this would be a place with the right pieces in place and the right backing that can be special," Walters said. “There’s a lot of things that go into coaching, different areas that lead to successful products on Saturday,” Walters said. Walters was initially brought on at Missouri as the safeties coach in 2015, after he’d spent a season each as Memphis’ and North Texas’ cornerbacks coach. Starting off as Illinois new defensive coordinator we take a look at our upcoming schedule and Big Ten match-ups. Offensive coordinator: Rod Smith (1st season) Offensive scheme: Multiple: Defensive coordinator: Hardy Nickerson (3rd season) Base defense: 4-3: Home stadium: Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 60,670) Ryan Walters’ father played collegiate football at Colorado as a quarterback. “There’s a couple seniors I need to get on the phone with to make sure that they come back.”. “From a philosophy standpoint, I’m a believer in making quarterbacks throw in tight windows,” Walters said. One of the nation's top young coaches, Walters comes to Illinois following six seasons at Missouri, including three years as the Tigers' defensive coordinator and two years as co … The Fighting Illini travel down to Starksville to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in this showdown. There are things that each one of those guys did well that I’ve been able to hold onto, try to emulate or try to tweak here and there.”. In 2019, Walters' defense ranked in the nation's Top 20 in several major categories, including total defense (14th NCAA/3rd SEC – 312.0 avg) and scoring defense (17th NCAA/6th SEC – 19.4 avg. From there, Walters moved to Oklahoma as a graduate assistant cornerbacks coach in 2012, as the Sooners went 10-3 and played in the 2013 Cotton Bowl. Prior making the move to Missouri in 2015, Walters coached at Memphis where he spent the 2014 season as cornerbacks coach and oversaw a defense that was among the most improved in the nation when the Tigers went 10-3. “I’ve been blessed to be around some guys that have really proven success, and I’ve learned a lot from them.”, More: Illinois football coach Bret Bielema begins building his coaching staff, More: 'A proven winner': Bret Bielema hired as new Illinois football coach. © 2021 University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, video platform powered by CBS Sports Digital. 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