While much has been made of the new look Badger offense this offseason thanks to new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, it almost never came to fruition. After firing Phil Longo in the midst of last season, Luke Fickell and Wisconsin were in need of a complete identity makeover after the failed Air Raid experiment. The problem, however, was that the coach they wanted to spearhead the change, didn't want the job.
"When I was first contacted, I was like 'Yeah, I don't know. I don't think so,'" Grimes said in an interview with CBS Sports. "I was happy and wasn't looking for another job."
Wisconsin almost didn't land Jeff Grimes as OC
Even though Fickell and the Badgers eventually convinced Grimes to come to Madison, it does raise a few concerning questions. Grimes hadn't been terribly successful as the coordinator of Kansas, and still balked at what should be one of the premier jobs in the Big Ten. So was Grimes truly just living the dream with the Jayhawks, or has Wisconsin fallen further than we thought?
It's probably a bit of both. Kansas, like Wisconsin, was coming off of a disappointing 5-7 season, but probably had more reasons to believe this season would be better simply based on the Badgers' impossible schedule. Ultimately, Grimes was sold on Wisconsin's promise to bring back their legendary brand of physical football.
"I think this is a place that has won a lot of games for a long period by playing a physical brand of football and leaning on their big people," said Grimes. "And so the more we talked, the more I think we just both realized that it was just the right fit."
All sides appear happy with the result, and fans are eager to return to the type of football than made Wisconsin famous, but it does seem alarming that the Badgers had to beg and plead Grimes to join. Maybe it's nothing, and he simply wanted to get some more continuity with Kansas, but at the end of the day Wisconsin should be a program with a line out the door for interviews.