Trevone Boykin walks into the temporary office of Mark Cohen, the sports information director at TCU, with a smile that hasn’t left his face since the final whistle of the Peach Bowl.

Cohen’s office overlooks Amon G. Carter Stadium and before Boykin sits down, he glances at the field for a moment. While I’m preparing to write a story about the quarterback, it’s clear the quarterback is not done writing his own.

Trevone Boykin wasn’t really recruited much out of high school. More of an athlete than a quarterback, Boykin was ranked 118th at his position in the state of Texas and 296th in the country.

He said his first offer to play college football came out of nowhere.

“UTEP [University of Texas-El Paso] didn’t even talk to me,” Boykin said. “My high school coach just came up to me after my spring game junior year and told me they offered.”

He sat on the offer, and the next one that came would be the last.

TCU sent outside receivers coach Rusty Burns to a West Mesquite High School football practice. A few days passed and then TCU sent quarterback coach and co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente to take a look at Boykin.

Fuente, who now is the head coach at the University of Memphis, saw something in the dual threat quarterback.

“TCU called me and offered right off the bat. I committed as soon as I got that phone call,” Boykin said.

Other schools followed, but their attempts at signing Boykin did not get far.

“My recruiting stopped after the TCU call. I got letters and other calls [from other schools] but I never responded,” Boykin said.

TCU was flying high when Boykin signed his national letter of intent. The Frogs were coming off an undefeated season, a Rose Bowl win and their senior quarterback, Andy Dalton, was projected to be a top-10 NFL Draft pick.

Forty-five minutes away in Mesquite, Texas, the football player that would return them to similar heights was waiting.

Boykin said football became his life after his freshman year of high school. Before that, he played almost every position, and his transition to quarterback occurred after a little fib.

He laughs when he thinks about the first position he played.

“I was a center, then I was left guard, then right tackle. I guess I was big for my age,” Boykin said.

Keeping family close is important to Boykin. He said he moved around a lot when he was young, often staying with different relatives in different school districts.

In a world with many variables, football was a constant.

After a move to a different district, a youth football coach asked Boykin what position he played with his old team.

“I lied. I said I played running back,” Boykin said. “Soon after that, they found out I could throw the ball, and then I was doing everything.”

Coming out of eighth grade, Boykin moved into his aunt’s house so that he could live in the school district zoned for West Mesquite High School.

He played in his first varsity football game as a 14 year-old sophomore. He said he remembers that first series of offensive plays like yesterday.

“I was only in for three plays,” Boykin said. “First play we gain yards, second play I popped a ligament in my foot. I stayed in for the next play, but when I tried to run I just couldn’t.

Much like his career at TCU, Boykin’s high school career started low but ended high. The quarterback, as a senior, rushed for 1,799 yards and 30 touchdowns and also completed 60.7 percent of his passes for 2,930 yards and 28 touchdowns.

After a successful senior year, the Boykin family packed up a van and headed 45 minutes down the road to Fort Worth.

He moved into the freshman dorm, Moncrief, which sits right across the street from Amon G. Carter Stadium. Although Boykin had his team around him, he was prone to homesickness.

“I was going home every weekend, freshman year,” he said. “It meant a lot to me that my family was only 45 minutes down the road.”

His first year playing Division I football was a learning experience, Boykin said.

“First couple of weeks…man I was sore. It took awhile to adjust, but after I got into my groove, physically, it came a lot easier,” he said.

The Frogs went 11-2 during that 2011-12 season and capped it off with a win over Louisiana Tech in the Poinsettia Bowl. It seemed that Casey Pachall was more than capable at the quarterback position.

Then, on October 4, 2012, Casey Pachall was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

The Frogs were 5-0, and the spotlight quickly shifted to his backup, Trevone Boykin. TCU’s next game was against Iowa State, the first Big 12 home game of the year.

Just like in high school, Boykin’s first start didn’t go as planned. His first pass as a starter was intercepted by the Cyclone defense. The Frogs lost the game 37-23.

Despite the rough start, Boykin led the Frogs to wins against Baylor, West Virginia and Texas. All three of which were on the road.

TCU finished the year 7-6, but lost in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl to Michigan State by a score of 17-16.

When Frog fans spoke about the 7-6 season, they used words like “resilience”, “tough” and “promising.” That tone changed drastically following TCU’s next season, its second in the Big 12.

The Frogs went 4-8 and were not invited to play in a bowl game for the first time since 2004. To start that rough season, Boykin had found himself in a similar spot on the depth chart.

Casey Pachall returned and won the starting spot during camp, making Boykin the backup once again.

Midway through the second quarter of a game against Southeastern Louisiana, Pachall ran to the right side of the field and came down awkwardly on his left arm. Later, an x-ray would confirm that he had broken it.

Once again, Boykin was told to step up and take the reigns of the TCU offense. TCU finished the year 4-8 and 2-7 in Big 12 play. Even after the season had ended, Boykin could not escape the scrutiny of the Horned Frog faithful.

“That was tough,” Boykin said. “It would be tough on anyone. The team felt like we had let a lot of close ones get away.

On top of having a rough season, quarterback controversy began again when Texas A&M senior quarterback Matt Joekel announced he was transferring to TCU to finish his college career.

Joekel, who many fans thought the coaches were ready to just hand the starting spot over to, didn’t faze Boykin.

“I’m not the jealous type,” he said. “Once we got out on the field, none of that mattered to me. We brought the best out of each other while having a good relationship.”

Boykin won the starting spot for TCU’s opening game against Samford, and the Frogs quickly got out to a 4-0 start that included a marquee win over an Oklahoma team who at the time was ranked No. 4 in the nation.

Trevone Boykin finished that game throwing for 318 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed 53 percent of his passes.

Just as soon as the quarterback had demonstrated his ability as a player, his strength as a leader was tested a week later.

In a game Frog fans will forever remember, TCU blew a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter to the Baylor Bears.

From his experiences from past seasons, Boykin knew one minor setback could derail a season.

“After the game, we had some guys getting in each other’s faces and other stuff that you just don’t want to see,” he said. “We made a promise to ourselves that we wouldn’t lose another game.”

That loss almost happened. TCU was on the ropes in a hostile environment when they battled West Virginia. In the final moments of the game, head coach Gary Patterson sent out kicker Jaden Oberkrom to steal the game.

As Oberkrom headed out to kick the field goal, Boykin told him that regardless of the outcome, “we’d still love you.”

“I just didn’t want him to think about it too much. When you think too much that’s when you make mistakes,” Boykin said.

TCU did not end up making the inaugural football playoff, but just like Trevone Boykin did with the sport of football, the team took advantage of the opportunity that is was given and routed Ole Miss 42-3 in the Peach Bowl.

“I know now that every time I step on that field, it could be my last. I’ve got one more year as a Frog and I am going to make the most of that chance,” Boykin said.

Boykin has paid his football dues just like the TCU program has. He waited to start the same way TCU waited to win a Rose Bowl. He changed positions the same way TCU changed conferences.

Boykin has grown with the university.

When I asked him what his personal goals were for the next season, he smiled and looked at the cast on his left wrist.

“Just going to try and stay healthy,” he said.

That sounds like a pretty good game plan for TCU fans.