It's been nearly nine months since Ryan Walters was named head coach of Purdue football in December. The road to kicking off the first season of a new era of Boilermaker football has been a long one filled with implementing Walters' culture, installing new systems on both sides of the ball, countless roster moves and building cohesion throughout the program.

While Walters has visualized and even got a quick taste of what it will be like to come out of Tiller Tunnel on Saturday afternoon, Purdue's head man knows that there is only so much that can prepare him for the first entrance to Ross-Ade Stadium.

"Every time I do, I do get goosebumps" Walters said. "You try to put yourself in those moments so they don't surprise you. I don't think there's gonna be anything I could do from a mental standpoint to capture what that moment is gonna feel like when it comes in real time," Walters said.

The rookie head coach is set to embark on his first go-around as Purdue's leader this weekend after seven years as a defensive coordinator at both Missouri and Illinois. Walters has been constantly learning about his new role and how the entire team's preparation falls in his lap.

"It's been different, obviously you're looking at different phases. You're allowing members of your staff that you've hired to do their job, and interject where where you see fit. Setting up practice and having a pulse on what the team needs to do more of or do less," Walters said. "How you can have that balancing act of preparing, but also making sure that we're fresh going into game day."

Luckily for Walters, he has depended on the rest of Purdue's staff as he takes the next step in his coaching career, specifically offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and defensive coordinator Kevin Kane. The work that his assistant coaches have put in over the last several months has impressed Walters, but he isn't surprised considering the makeup of the group.

"We were thorough in the process of figuring out and identifying who we wanted to bring in the building not only from a positional expertise, but just the type of guys we want to bring in and the type of personalities," Walters said. "So, I've been really impressed with the chemistry we have in the staff with the knowledge that they have in the staff and with the way that they've interacted with and mentored our players.