You might have heard that Ryan Walters, Purdue’s head football coach, is embattled. He’s not produced results on the field, and when you’re making $ 4 million a year, people rightfully expect you to do some big things. What you might not have heard, at least I didn’t, was a group of students at a basketball game chanting ‘Fire Walters.’ I was watching the game and I didn’t pick it up. Then, everyone heard about it days later due to, what we assume, was Mike Bobinski or someone in his orbit pushing The Paint Crew to send an email.
You can see in the email from Nathan Baird of the Indy Star that this message was sent at the request of someone in the athletic department. This wasn’t an email that The Paint Crew decided to send on their own. And now, here we are discussing it. The Indy Star wrote about it, the Journal & Courier covered it, and Ryan and I chatted about it on the latest episode of the Boiler Alert podcast. As a result, thousands more people are now aware of this chant that they wouldn’t have known about otherwise. All because someone couldn’t let students be students for just a few moments. That’s all it was—a few seconds. This wasn’t a chant that went on and on throughout the game; it was brief.
Instead of allowing kids to be kids and occasionally say silly things, someone chose to push for this email. This led to a classic case of the Streisand Effect, where trying to suppress something only ends up bringing more attention to it. Yes, it’s named after Barbra Streisand.
Now, I get why Bobinski and his team might feel embarrassed about this. They hired Ryan Walters and are investing heavily in his success. Everyone wants Walters to do well because, ultimately, we all want Purdue Football to thrive. However, the distinction here is that we love Purdue Football as a whole, not just the current coach. Fans didn’t become supporters exclusively because of who the coach is; they care about the team. I believe Bobinski might not fully grasp this. For him, Purdue’s success hinges on Walters’ success, as his own future is tied to it. But for the rest of us, the head coach’s identity is secondary to winning games.
One last point: if you’re in charge of a sports team—be it an owner or athletic director—fighting against your own fans is never a good strategy. Just look at James Dolan, one of the least popular figures in the NBA, or Donald Sterling. Historically, going to war with your fans does not end well. It doesn’t make you look strong; it makes you appear small.
As we move forward, I hope Bobinski can understand the intent behind the chant rather than just the words. The Paint Crew and most Purdue fans don’t have a personal vendetta against Ryan Walters. They care about the future of Purdue Football. They want the program to succeed. Isn’t that what you want from your fans? To encourage you to improve and let you know when on-field performance isn’t meeting their expectations? I believe it is. Even if the message is delivered in a way that stings, listening to your supporters is almost always the right approach.
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