CC - Paul Chryst

Do you really want Paul Chyrst, who has a 16-16 record at Pitt, to replace Brady Hoke, who has a 29-17 record at Michigan?  

Oh Chryst, not another coaching candidate.

let's not overlook how he adapted his offensive philosophies and tendencies--which condemned many Wisconsin quarterbacks to wallowing in play-action pass obscurity--to the skills of Russell Wilson.

That said, I think Chryst along with some of the coordinators on the list (Herman, Frost) are some of the riskier options.  

 

 Unless of course my saying "how he adapted his offensive philosophies and tendencies" is overstated hogwash based on the increased level excitement I felt while watching Wilson play compared to other Wisconsin qb's.

No thank you.

Are we really going to get a worse coach just to get rid of Hoke? If we get Harbaugh that's one thing but I'm not even sure it makes sense to give up on Hoke for half the other people we're evaluating here

Sorry anyone who lost 21-10 to Akron in year 3 AT HOME is not going to be even a choice E to me. Hoke almost pulled that off last year, and we know what that meant.  I get it in year 1 (maybe) if you are converting offenses.  Year 3? Hell no. I dont give coaches excuses in year 3-4 unless they have massive injuries including a starting QB.

If Mark Stoops goes 8-4 (has started year 2, 5-1) and can lose "competitively" to the likes of Miss State and Mullen in year 2 (i.e. within 14-17 pts) in year 2 at Kentucky and shown to be a ridiculous recruiter, I'd rather go for that sort of risk if your "type A" and "type B" choices all fall through....even though his W/L will be shabby.

W/L is not the end all be all, esp at these middling schools.  Trajectory means something.  Chryst looks flat as middle Ohio in terms of trajectory.   If Stoops pulls 8-4 in year 2 he will already have a better record and bigger turnaround in 1 year (from 2-10 last year) than what Chryst accomplished at any point at Pitt in a far worse conference.

But I've seen so many of these, I was wondering how long it would take until WMU's PJ Fleck's name came up. It can't be long now. Jeez

doesn't look very good.

hard to imagine this kind of hire doing anything other than making people go: huh?

Alvarez used his Pittsburgh roots and connections to get Chryst that job. For this reason, Chryst was not considered for Wisconsin job when it oppened. I imagine Chryst would have some more wiggle room at this time, but he seems like a guy who is going to stick around at Pitt for a while. 

I'd rather throw spaghetti at the wall and see if that sticks!

at KY 'Nuff said and neg away But take a look from his first year and now second year. Midwest ties. Coached defense under Fischer (leave personal bias aside). Recruits Ohio. Pedigree. From Ohio. Personality where losing is not an option and winning is an expectation.

http://youtu.be/4sqBYziYBAs?t=1m7s

Michigan may not be as prestigious of a job as it was a decade ago, but seriously, we can do better.

Not to knock Chryst, but he's not exactly setting the world on fire at Pitt. He lost to fricking Iowa. He wouldn't be a bad hire, and he coached some damn good offenses at Wisconsin. We know he can develop an O-Line for sure, but I just believe we can do better.

If we cannot secure an A List option, I would rather keep Hoke, fire Funk, and let Nuss/Mattison continue their work. No need for all the upheaval for a parallel move.

Paul Chryst?? NEXT!

I talked about Todd Graham to add a "boots on the ground" context, so I might as well chime in on the subject of Chryst.
While Chryst hasn't had a lot of success at Pitt on paper, there are some things that should be noted. First, most importantly, don't underestimate what a trainwreck Pitt was when he took the helm. The Panthers managed to burn through three head coaches in two years, not counting interim head coaches, complete with two scandals. Two successive recruiting classes fell apart, and they went from pro to spread to pro in three successive seasons. They had much the same problems with youth and depth on their lines, and an underwhelming picture at QB. Chryst exacerbated this by running a clean ship and getting rid of problematic student athletes, like 5* Rushel Shell, further limiting his talent pool.

Chryst is a first time HC, and the warts are there. Particularly, his cloack management has been poor, and some rushed decisions at critical times are noted; that could be the result of inexperience, but it alsio seems to be a running theme with pro-style coaches.

That said, Chryst has shown some real upside, and I've often used it to highlight Hoke's flaws. He recruits well, he's been getting some big name kids to stay home, and whateeeever else you want to say, Chryst can identify and develop talent. He saw Tyler Boyd, whose third to choice after Pitt and WVU was Michigan State pretty much by default, and saw talent; Michigan can't offer everyone, obviously, but Pitt fans were aware of what a talent this kid was supposed to be and what a big target he was for them, and he wasn't on Michigan's radar. Sure enough, he'll probably be in the pros after next year.

More notable, I think, is James Connor. Connor was a non-descript, 3* DE in his last year of HS. He committed to Pitt, and suddenly it was declared they wanted him to be a running back. Pitt fans shrugged. Yet Connor became, from his first year, a better RB than Michigan has had since Mike Hart, and with an equally talent and experience-denuded OL. I look at him with some whimsy as he does all the things I know RBs are supposed to do, like break tackles, burst through holes and drag piles, make yards after contact. Michigan wouldn't have recruited Connor anyway, because the kid had grade problems in HS, but that's not really the issue. Chryst looked at a no-name DE and saw potential, and then quickly realized that potential into performance, which are skills Hoke has lacked. 

He can develop QB talent too, for what it's worth. He got Savage drafted, and that was not seen as a likely feat when he took over. People in Pittsburgh see his work with Savage as a continuation of what he did with Russell Wilson.

Boyd, Savage and Connor are anecodtal examples, I know, but I hold them out as examples of what Chryst does right. He took a program that was worse off than I think anyone unfamiliar with the program realizes, and has largely stabalized it. I tend to think given two more years the Panthers will be doing well enough that Chryst will be a much hotter commodity, which is, all-in-all, not a bad trajectory for a first HC job.

At Michigan? Well, he's obviously a gamble, but I think there are riskier gambles out there that are being talked about. I think more highly of the job he's done at Pitt in three years than the job Hoke has done here in four, especially given the disparity of experience, resources and prestige.