A lot has changed for Ryan Walters between this year's Big Ten Media trip and last year's.

There's four more teams in the Big Ten for instance, but most importantly for Walters and his team, the biggest change is experience.

"Being a first year head coach a year ago, to going through the season and going through a full off season," Ryan Walters told local media in the south end zone on Tuesday in a sharp, dark blue suit. "And heading into the start of fall camp next week. Definitely feel like I'm in a different place, a much better place, personally, than I was a year ago."

That year saw Purdue go 4-8 last season through a difficult schedule that featured non-conference games against: Fresno State, Virginia Tech, and Syracuse.

Purdue has maybe an even tougher road this year with the return of Notre Dame to its lineup and a road trip to Oregon State.

But Brohm's last parting gift to the football program won't be an excuse for a team that not only has a coach with head coaching experience now, but a quarterback that will get his second year in Graham Harrell's offensive system.

Hudson Card will offer Purdue's offense a ceiling that could carry it to a surprise finish in the Big Ten, but Purdue will need to get a lot from new faces.

"We did a good job of bringing a majority of our newcomers in in January," Walters said about all the new faces that have been brought in to bolster Purdue's roster through transfers and freshmen. "That way you do get a full off season and you gotta be strategic how much time you spend in the weight room and on football."

Purdue's roster will need that talent. It lost key contributors on both sides of the ball. The receiver room will be almost brand new after the exit of Deion Burks to Oklahoma.

The exit of Nic Scourton to Texas A&M will mean Purdue's biggest strength last season - its defensive line - will need to be rebuilt.

But Purduer returns the best freshman in the Big Ten last year, Dillon Thieneman at safety, and Purdue's defense showed improvement throughout the season on its way of winning two of its last three games of the season.

At this point last season, Walters didn't have to just worry about his team taking the field. He was still remodeling a football program to his vision. Now, going into his second season, the plan is starting to take shape both on and off the field.

"Now that the program is running the way we envisioned it to run when we got the job," Walters said. "It's more settling to be in this role and not have to worry about a lot of other things."

With those other things running how he likes him, he can stay focused on how best to make his team better. Something he feels much better prepared for after going through a season.

"You kind of go through every scenario that you think of but different things happen throughout the course of the year that you weren't prepared for or you haven't seen before," Walters said about the difference between this version of himself and the one last year. "And as a defensive guy - was I better utilizing my time for the team on the defensive side of the wall and as a head coach? I have a better understanding of how to use my time... and where I can add value to the best of my ability for our program."

Now Walters will go into a season with experience, losses, and a lot of optimism behind him. Purdue will enter a new age under Walters. After a lot of work through NIL and the alliance last year, Purdue feels on the cusp of something.

"We are in the conversation," Walters said about Purdue's NIL but can also be about talent and his team on the field. "We still need to go compete."

The conversation about Purdue right now is it'll be a bottom feeder in the new Big Ten, but Walters and his Purdue team isn't hearing that.