Baldwin ? The last time Mike Grossner saw Baker University’s football squad was as an assistant coach at Bethany College in 1987.

Fast-forward to Thursday, and the 38-year-old Grossner was the Wildcats’ new head coach.

Grossner, who for the past three years was offensive coordinator at Western State College in Gunnison, Colo., said at a news conference Thursday he wanted his new players to show the same intensity he recalled Baker displaying in that game more than 16 years ago.

“I remember it was a mud-bowl type game, real cold, and I told some of our staff that Baker had hard-nosed, tough kids that would hit you. I felt like we snuck out of there with a win,” Grossner said.

“I knew of the Baker tradition, and I understood the area was beautiful. When the opportunity came, I thought it would be really easy to make that transition.”

Grossner replaces John Frangoulis, who resigned Nov. 17 after eight years as Wildcats coach.

Grossner proved he could win when his squad at Glendale (Ariz.) Community College won the 2000 national championship and he was named the AFCA junior-college coach of the year.

One of Grossner’s first comments to the Wildcat crowd assembled Thursday was he believed Baker can win a national championship — sooner than some might believe.

“I took this job for one reason,” Grossner said, “the national championship. I told our kids today that our No. 1 goal to get there is to get to the playoffs. Once we’re in the playoffs, then its a four-game season and it’s anybody’s.”

New Baker University football coach Mike Grossner displays his first orange-and-black BU tie during a news conference. Grossner was introduced Thursday in Baldwin.

After finishing his playing career as a quarterback at Bethany, Grossner became an assistant for one season with the Swedes before a one-year stint at Fort Hays State.

From there, the Arizona native was a quarterback and coach for professional football teams in Nottingham, England, and Ravenna, Italy — where he took each organization to the national semifinals.

Grossner was offensive coordinator for Glendale in 1990-95, then coached one season for Agua Fria High in Avondale, Ariz. He then became Glendale’s head coach until 2001, when he moved to Western State.

The actual interviewing and hiring of Grossner took only three days for Baker athletic director Dan Harris, who heard about his new coach at a national coaches convention in Orlando, Fla., earlier this month.

Senior offensive lineman Chance Nichols believes BU officials made the right hire.

“One thing that really turned me on to him was that he said he really wanted us to be a tough team,” Nichols said. “When you talk about Baker football, that’s really the impression you want people to have.”