"I knew it wouldn’t be like, ‘Oh, he’s going to have no clue what he’s talking about.’ He produced the highest-paid center (Travis Frederick) and guard (Kevin Zeitler) … right now in the NFL. He knows how offense works, and usually if you know one way, you can teach the other."

Bostad’s familiarity with Madison and the UW program also makes the transition easier. Bostad, 50, a Pardeeville native who played linebacker at UW-Stevens Point, also already knows some of the staff members he’ll be working alongside and can focus his attention to adjusting on the field.

"The really good thing about it is I don’t really have to, when you take a new job, there’s a lot of new things,” Bostad said. "The only new thing for me here is just learning how to coach, teach the techniques that we want, make sure our kids are doing the right things on this field right here. Everything else is the same. That makes things a lot easier."

Chryst said the possible addition of a 10th assistant coach for Division I football within the next year had no impact on hiring Bostad. “It’s not an experiment,” Chryst said, and the Badgers don’t have plans to move Bostad to another role anytime soon.