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May 3, 2012

Coach Paul Chryst is still a relatively blank canvas. Sure he’s been an outstanding Offensive Coordinator, but we have no idea how he will translate to being the head coach. We can project. We can believe. We can hope. But we don’t know.

Neither does anyone else. And one of the primary time-killers in the spring and summer months for college football media are lists. Best coaches, best hires, best players by position, etc. Then you can break them down by conference.

That’s where we are at right now. Lists.

Athlon, usually one of the first-to-the-market publishers of preview guides has a rather bizarre ranking of the Big East Coaches. Why is it bizarre? Consider that it includes the present members for the upcoming season, but also tosses the future members as well. This despite being a list just for this year. That means it is a list of 15 coaches rather than 8. Er… I realize expansiopocolypse can be confusing and convoluted, but this just seems silly.

On to the rankings. Chris Peterson of Boise is not surprisingly ranked first. Charlie Strong (Louisville) gets the Number two spot. Butch Jones (Cinci, 4th) and Skip Holtz (USF, 5th) are the other Big East coaches ranked ahead of Chryst. Coach Chryst comes in at 6th:

No one can call Chryst a slacker. He has held 14 different jobs in the NFL, CFL and college ranks since graduating from Wisconsin in the late 80s. Once he finally returned to his alma mater in 2005, it was clear to fans he wouldn’t be around too long. In Barry Alvarez’ final season, Chryst led Wisconsin’s most prolific offense in school history, scoring 446 points. In each of the last two seasons, he has broken his own school scoring record, giving Chryst the credit for the three highest scoring teams in Badgers’ history. He led the Big Ten in rushing in 2008, led the Big Ten in rushing, total and scoring offense in 2009, posted the highest scoring team in the league again in 2010 and wrapped-up his coordinator-ship in Madison with the Big Ten’s highest scoring and most productive unit in 2011. Tailback Montee Ball posted the best single-season in Big Ten history as he tied Barry Sanders single-season NCAA touchdown record with 39. He takes over at Pitt with extensive knowledge of the Midwest and perfect personnel for his power-spread scheme.

Now if it was just a list of the present coaches, that means Athlon puts Chryst 4th in the Big East right off the bat. Doug Marrone (Syracuse), Steve Addazio (Temple), Paul Pasqualoni (UConn) and Kyle Flood (Rutgers) are all ranked behind Chryst.

Meanwhile Mat Hayes at the Sporting News sticks to just the present Big East members. Coach Chryst still ranks 6th.

1. Butch Jones

2. Charlie Strong

3. Skip Holtz

4. Paul Pasqualoni

5. Steve Addazio

6. Paul Chryst — Chryst was a hot head coaching candidate the last few years, but didn’t jump at the first few schools that offered. The unexpected (Todd Graham leaving for Arizona State) left a prime job available—a job where the only way to go is up.

Trending: Rising

7. Kyle Flood

8. Doug Marrone

Needless to say, Syracuse fans are probably the most outraged by this list. Probably with some reason.

Past experience disproportionately counts in this list. How else to explain Paul Pasqualoni up at four considering how the end of his Cuse reign ended and last year went at UConn.

It’s a list that includes 2 coaches with their first gig. I have a hard time mustering outrage. Like the Big East generally, it seems that the most you can quibble with is one or two spots in the rankings, but it is a jumble.

In a much more enjoyable puff piece on Coach Chryst, there is this one on how the players have taken to him right away. Isaac Bennett notes in the piece, how Chryst came in with immediate credibility with the players because Zach Brown had played for him at Wisconsin and endorsed him wholeheartedly.

As for the reputation that Chryst is a teaching coach, well, yeah.

Chryst attributes much of his coaching philosophy — which centers around respect for the game and teaching — to what he learned from his father, the late George Chryst, who coached at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for more than 30 years.

“My philosophy is that coaches are teachers and you need to be teaching the game of football and respect the game,” Chryst said. “You need to be able to make players the best players they can be. It’s a player’s game, and the coach’s job is to prepare them so they can play to the best of their ability.”

You have to teach, and you have show the results not talk about them. That has been his message every time he does an interview.

“In the end, it’s only about what you do and you have to earn that.  I’m comfortable with that and that’s the way it should be.”

“I feel fortunate in the way that I think it fits.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s matters what we do…what kind of experience our players have and are they growing in our program and for the fans, it’s okay to be about what we’re doing on the football field.  That’s really all that matters as far as the game itself.  And then what matters to us is our guys growing, improving, being the best they can be as football player, being the best they can be as a student in the classroom, being the best person they can be.  It’s not that hard.”

Yeah? You try dealing with those Friday classes with a hangover.





Worse, Saturday morning English 80.

Where I would have loved to eat pickled eggs and drink from pitchers with Wanny, from what I hear with Chryst I’d be better off taking a nap.

Comment by steve1 05.03.12 @ 1:54 pm

The only numbers that I’m concerned with is how many “W”s our new coach puts in the win column. Just win baby win. The rest of the numbers then start falling magically into place.

Comment by Dr. Tom 05.03.12 @ 5:52 pm

It is not about Chryst…it is about the players…much better than the “look at me” play going on now out in the dessert.

Comment by SFPitt 05.03.12 @ 6:57 pm

“My philosophy is that coaches are teachers and you need to be teaching the game of football and respect the game,”

THIS quote is why I’m in love with Chryst. He’s all about the game–learning it, loving, respecting it–and he tries not instill it in the players.

He’s not about “look at what I did at UW” or “this is my DREAM job” or anything silly like that. He is purely about the game and the players. U look at a guy like him and seriously, honestly, wonder why he didn’t come out of the woodwork sooner. He has the best of JoePa (I don’t care what naysayers say. JoePa is one of the best if not THE best) without the idiots to bring him down.

Here’s to Paul Chryst! Hail to Pitt! Hail to the ACC! (have I mentioned I can’t wait to leave the big least..)

Comment by Lou Gagliardi 05.03.12 @ 11:45 pm

Lou: Chryst did not come out of the woodwork because we love in the era of “flash”. Substance? What is that? Pitt tried for flash but it is so unlike Pitt, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia..all of PA that we can’t even do that well.
I admired Paterno as a coach and any comparison between Paterno as a coach and Chryst as a coach is flattering to be certain. But even Paterno became larger than life:odd, but not by his own doing.
Chryst the teacher is a proven commodity. Chryst the offensive coordinator is also proven. He has four challenges ahead of him.
1. Managing the entire spectrum:
2. Getting & keeping good assistants
3. Gameday
4. Recruiting

Two of these four are entirely new to him. But his philosophy will give him a head start on the learning curve.

Comment by SFPitt 05.04.12 @ 5:54 am

As an athelete moves up to another level in a sport he should be learning more about the fundamentals and mechanics of the game so that he can compete at that level.
Despite the increase in size, strength, and speed of the contemparary atheletes, targetiing my opinion to basketball the sport I am most familiar, I see the obvious diference in the physical qualities of the players but I also see a glaring lack of fundamentals among most of the players.
This is why I think Chyrist may be the right coach. Apparently he was a major factor in turning Wisconsin into a big-ten leader from a middle of the pack team. Even then Wisconsin did not start attracting significant upgrades in personnel compared to the Michigan’s and Ohio State’s but each year they leveled the field on these teams.
I am not confident that Chryist can make Tino into a QB the opposition will defense, or that anyone else on the roster including Volychik will fill that roll. However I am confident that by 2014 a QB that can win games will be signed by Pitt. I am also confident that we will see improvement in two signficant areas immediately; team preparation and execution and on the field play calling and clock management.

Comment by drw 05.04.12 @ 12:28 pm

Chryst was the best hire for sure. He is a student of the game who teaches it to students. The only iffy variable is no HC experience.

Chryst has said he is looking at the big picture in respect to the program. I think he will get it and at the same time being personally involved in making each coach (including himself)and players the best they can be through teaching, hard work and just plain old striving to be the best. The icing on the cake is the best position players will start irrespective of class..

Sounds good to me and especially with the thought of where he wants to take the O and Huxtable the D…

Comment by Kenny 05.05.12 @ 11:52 am

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