In 2021, Jeff Grimes arrived in Waco as Baylor's new offensive coordinator. He had spent the previous three seasons at BYU and was coming off a decorated 2020 campaign, but was now tasked with installing his offense at a new program for the first time.

Baylor quarterback Gerry Bohanan was a redshirt junior at the time. He'd played sparingly prior to Grimes' arrival, with fewer than 200 career passing yards. But his new play-caller was about to change that.

"When he walked in that room, there was no doubt who our leader was," Bohanon told BadgerBlitz.com. "He’s a guy that, you can’t do anything but love and respect how passionate he is about the game. Guys buy in quick."

Bohanon patiently waited his turn for three years, and in 2021, he was next in line. Under Grimes' tutelage, he flourished into a dynamic dual threat and helped lead Baylor to a Big 12 Championship and a Sugar Bowl victory. When all was said and done in 2021, he had thrown for 2,200 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions on 62.9 percent completion while adding 323 yards and nine scores on the ground.

Bohanon is one of several successful quarterbacks to play under Grimes, including 2020 Heisman finalist Zach Wilson. But the former Baylor Bear not only got to play in Grimes' system, he got to see how it was installed — the exact process the coordinator is currently facilitating in Madison.

“I would say he just made sure each and every position group understood we’re going to be a very physical offense, we’re going to be very explosive and we’re going to confuse teams off the misdirection, the motion, the shifts, the formations," Bohanon said. "When he got there, it was big like, ‘Let’s go and hit the ground running. Let’s sit down, let’s meet, let’s walk through, let’s get the offense down so we understand what our brand of football is."

Physicality is something Grimes himself harped on upon his arrival in Madison.

"I mean, if a guy is out there and isn't giving his best effort, isn't playing tough and physical, turning down opportunities for contact, they're gonna hear about that from me and the rest of the staff," he said back in January.

On paper, that should be music to Badger fans' ears: Wisconsin's offense was much more finesse-based under ex-coordinator Phil Longo, and very rarely if ever in his tenure did it feel as though the Badgers' offense could exert their will over opponents. Wisconsin was regularly manhandled in the trenches under Longo.

Thus, getting back to Wisconsin's offensive roots of playing bully ball up front with an explosive ground game is on Grimes' shortlist of tasks to accomplish. According to Bohanon, Grimes is the man for the job in terms of instilling that physicality.

"I mean you look at him, he’s huge. Shoot, his voice is one of the biggest voices in the world. Him as a person fits that," Bohanon said. “I would honestly say it starts with him and his mentality. Getting to know him, getting to talk to him as a coach, he’s a very dominant, aggressive, physical...Who he is, the way he looks, the way he talks, the way he coaches, that’s him as well."

To Bohanon, Grimes himself is an extension of his offense. According to the quarterback, that makes it easy to buy into his philosophies.

“He’s a guy that everybody is gonna love. You’re gonna wanna play for him. If you love football, you’re gonna love him because he’s crazy about football. One of the craziest coaches about football I’ve ever been around," he said.

Bohanon was the perfect fit for Grimes' scheme. A big athlete at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds with plenty of mobility and a rocket arm, the gunslinger posed a threat both on the ground — a non-negotiable in the play-caller's system — and to take the top off defenses with the deep ball.

"You got to throw the ball down the field, which, every quarterback in the world wants to throw the ball down the field," Bohanon said of playing in Grimes' offense. "So that was a big thing. But also understanding that, being a dual-threat quarterback and being able to run the ball kinda balances the offense out...If (you're able to) run the ball, you can do whatever you want with that offense. There’s no way to stop that offense if you can run the ball.”

Bohanon was in his fourth year of college by the time Grimes arrived in Waco. Still, the signal caller said he took it back to the basics when learning the coordinator's scheme.

"Start from literally ground zero; learning the footwork that he likes for the running game, working on all the drops, the play-action, working on getting the timing down with the motions and shifts and jets and play-action. As a quarterback, just spend time doing it. That was the biggest thing for us," he said.

It remains to be seen how much situational control Grimes will be given on game day. Head coach Luke Fickell and his ex-offensive coordinator Longo famously didn't see eye-to-eye, leading to a lot of awkward play sequences and questionable calls and decisions on critical plays.

Given both coaches' desires to impose their will via a punishing ground game, Grimes could be given more freedom than Longo was on a situational basis. And if that's indeed the case, Bohanon says to expect some calculated risks out of Grimes' offense.

“He’s a four-down guy. He lives by that magic number…He’s super aggressive. I remember we were playing TCU, it was third and three-to-five, third and medium. He took a shot because the magic number on 4th down was like five or six," Bohanon said. "Just to be the quarterback and know that you have a guy that’s tough mentally and physically to call those plays in those kinds of situations, you know that he believes in you. You know that’s something that every player wants to be a part of.”

The confidence Grimes has in himself and in his system is the same confidence he aims to instill in his players. Bohanon recalled a game against TCU during that 2021 season, ultimately a narrow loss for the Bears. With the game getting tighter, Grimes approached Bohanon and his star receiver Tyquan Thornton on the sideline, essentially telling the two it was on them to carry the team in what was an otherwise lackadaisical day for the offense.

"That’s something I’ll never forget, a coach coming up and wrapping his arms around us. He lets you know he believes in you and you can change the game," Bohanon said.

Based on that anecdote, its unsurprising Bohanon stressed that Grimes is very relationship-oriented as a coach.

“He’s very funny. You can connect with him. He’s into personal relationships, he wants to get to know you. He’s gonna joke around. You’re gonna see him down there working out all the time. He’s gotta get his workout in. Being a player, he’s a guy who’s gonna hug you, he’s gonna talk to you, he’s gonna tell you he loves you," the quarterback said. "You’re gonna feel his presence when you walk in the room, when he says something. He’s gonna be the same Coach Grimes every day.”

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