WEST LAFAYETTE − Mike Bobinski is tasked with making a Purdue football head coaching hire after Ryan Walters was fired on Sunday.
For Bobinski, a former athletic director at Akron, Xavier and Georgia Tech before being hired at Purdue in 2016, it marks the fourth time he’s been tasked with selecting a school’s head football coach.
Xavier doesn’t have a football program, but Bobinski hired three successful men’s basketball coaches – the school’s primary sport – for the Musketeers in Thad Matta, Sean Miller and Chris Mack during his longest tenured stop in his career.
Bobinski was athletic director during a successful stretch of football at Georgia Tech under Paul Johnson, including an ACC championship and Orange Bowl victory in 2014. But Johnson was already the Yellow Jackets‘ head coach when Bobinski was hired in 2013 and remained the coach after Bobinski left for Purdue.
More: What did AD Mike Bobinski say regarding Purdue football coaching search?
Here’s how other head football coaches hired under Mike Bobinski’s term as athletic director fared:
Lee Owens, Akron (1995)
Owens was a member of the Ohio State coaching staff when Bobinski tabbed him to take over the Zips football program.
Owens coached Akron for nine seasons, compiling a winning record just three times, all coming over his final five seasons.
Akron won the 2000 MAC East title under Owens, who was fired in 2003 after going 7-5 and finishing with a 40-61 overall record.
Jeff Brohm, Purdue
Bobinski’s early time in West Lafayette was immediately linked with his football hire of Jeff Brohm, previously the head coach at Western Kentucky and a former NFL quarterback.
Purdue had five straight losing seasons and had won a combined nine games in the previous four seasons when Brohm was hired. In his first season, Purdue went 7-6 and beat Arizona in the Foster Farms Bowl.
Before resigning to accept the head coaching position at his alma mater Louisville ahead of the 2023 season, Brohm led Purdue to four bowl appearances in six seasons and its only time reaching the Big Ten Championship game in 2022. Brohm went 17-9 in his final two seasons at Purdue and finished 36-34 overall.
Ryan Walters, Purdue
One week after Brohm exited for Louisville, Purdue announced Walters, at the time the Illinois defensive coordinator, as its head coach.
Walters won in his second career game as head coach at Virginia Tech, defeated Illinois and Purdue finished the season with wins over Minnesota and Indiana that capped a 4-8 season.
Purdue finished the 2024 season 1-11, ending with a 66-0 loss to Indiana on Saturday. Walters went 5-19 as Purdue’s coach.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue AD Mike Bobinski’s history hiring football coaches
