Ryan Walters (American football)
Ryan Walters is an American football coach and former player who is serving as the defensive coordinator for the Illinois Fighting Illini. He formerly played for Colorado and was the defensive coordinator for the Missouri Tigers. Playing career. A native of Los Angeles, Walters played safety collegiately at Colorado for the Buffaloes from 2004 to 2008 where his father, Marc, played quarterback between 1986 and 1989. During his father’s playing days he was babysat by Eric Bieniemy. Ryan started 33 of 46 games for Colorado, and earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors and first -team All-Colorado honors from the state's National Football Foundation his senior year. During his senior season he was made a team captain for the Buffaloes, and was voted that seasons team MVP by his teammates. Coaching career. Colorado. Ryan began his coaching career as a student assistant at Colorado working with the secondary in 2009 Arizona. Ryan spent two years on the coaching staff at Arizona, where he served as a graduate assistant in 2010, and was promoted to defensive backs coach for the 2011 season. Oklahoma. Walters went to Oklahoma as a graduate assistant cornerbacks coach in  2012, as the Sooners went 10-3 and played in the 2013 Cotton Bowl. North Texas. Ryan coached cornerbacks at North Texas for the 2013 season. The team would end up playing in 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl. Memphis. He spent the 2014 season as the cornerbacks coach for the Memphis Tigers helping them reach the 2014 Miami Beach Bowl. Missouri. Walters joined Gary Pinkel's Missouri staff in February of 2015 following Barry Odom, from Memphis to Missouri. He began as a safeties coach before becoming the co-defensive coordinator in 2016 and, eventually, the full time defensive coordinator  in 2018 in addition to serving as the secondary coach. He was a holdover after the 2020 coaching change to Eliah Drinkwitz. Illinois. In January 2021, a report surfaced that Walters was among three finalists to join Bret Bielema's new staff at Illinois. The other finalists were reportedly Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, and Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom, Walters former boss at Missouri. Odom eventually elected to stay with Arkansas, and on January 6, 2021, Walters was announced as the new DC for the Illini. Family. Walters and his wife Tara have two sons, Aaron and Cason