CC - Paul Chryst
A few weeks ago I did a CC post on a young and innovative Tom Herman as a potential CC. This time I am looking for feedback on another interesting candidate. Paul Chryst is a solid, no-nonsense coach. He runs a tough, run-oriented Pro-Style offense and had great success as OC at Wiscy. He would fit the mold of a "Michigan Man" if he wasn't already a 'Wisconsin Man".
-Only 49 years old
-Midwestern (Big 10 roots)
-8 year tenure at Wisconsin where the Badgers consistently were one of the most powerful (as in power running) and potent offenses in the Big 10
-Has coached offense in College, CFL and NFL
-His overall record at Pitt is 16-16. While he hasn't set Pitt on fire, he has had to convert from a spread to a Pro and played a large number of Freshman last year
By no means is he my top choice, however....
Should we lose out on the Harbaughs, The Miles, The Mullens and we are stuck looking at higher risk coaches, then he should be considered. He would be a "safe, solid" choice, but definitely not a glamorous one.
Thoughts ?
-
October 16th, 2014 at 7:43 PM ^
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?
October 16th, 2014 at 7:45 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 7:58 PM ^
October 17th, 2014 at 5:38 AM ^
October 17th, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^
Neither of the Harbaughs are coming. If someone told you the reason one of them isn't our coach because of DB, that person wants to further incite your ire for DB.
Can we please start living in reality? Thanks.
October 18th, 2014 at 12:41 AM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 9:28 PM ^
I will pass on both thank you
October 16th, 2014 at 10:29 PM ^
Hoke isn't a great coach, but this type of "ignore the wins that hurt my argument" crap drives me crazy. He won with Denard and lost with Denard, and that's hard to tease out what was "Denard" and what was "coaching".
October 17th, 2014 at 9:39 AM ^
or you know....13-13 with out denard saving his ass for the first 2 yrs. so yea...I would take chryst over hoke
So if we cherry-pick Hoke's record to just count the games when Gardner/Morris has started, he has the same record as Chryst. You take that to be an endorsement of Chryst?
October 16th, 2014 at 7:45 PM ^
But assuming Hoke were to be fired, then it would become an option if the big fish failed
October 16th, 2014 at 7:49 PM ^
So you are starting a CC for the Miss Congeniality of ooaches?
October 16th, 2014 at 8:39 PM ^
October 17th, 2014 at 2:43 AM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 8:25 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 17th, 2014 at 10:09 AM ^
I'm sure Chryst has had more OL to work with than Hoke at Michigan and arguably more talent after what happened to our 2010 and 2011 classes (less talent as well as departures).
October 17th, 2014 at 10:21 AM ^
You've absolutely lost your effing mind if you try to argue that Pitt has had more talent than Michigan, in any year, at any position.
October 17th, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
Negatory, sir. Pitt's OLine was also stripped of talent and experience when Chryst took over, and its last two recruiting classes were decimated by no less than three coaching changes. Chryst essentially inherited a program on the brink and cobbled together some success. I wrote a longer post about this further below.
October 16th, 2014 at 7:47 PM ^
Oh Chryst, not another coaching candidate.
October 16th, 2014 at 7:52 PM ^
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.
October 16th, 2014 at 7:54 PM ^
Let's not overlook how Pitt has lost its last three games to Iowa, Akron, and Virginia.
October 16th, 2014 at 8:21 PM ^
also a good point. Ive not followed their season closely and that's a pretty ugly losing streak in the middle of their season.
Also, as I said, Chryst is a risk and I would bet not anyone's leading or favorite candidate.
October 16th, 2014 at 8:00 PM ^
No thank you.
October 16th, 2014 at 8:06 PM ^
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
October 17th, 2014 at 7:33 AM ^
October 17th, 2014 at 8:15 AM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 8:14 PM ^
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.
October 16th, 2014 at 8:16 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 8:27 PM ^
once coaches A-D don't pan out then you wont have an E to fall back on, Listen, I would love a big name coach as much as anyone. However, its OK to discuss Plan E coaches. Its called a Contingency Plan.
By the Way, Mark Dantonio was 18-17 at Cincy before MSU hired him. Similar backgroud except on the defensive side of the ball.
October 17th, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^
I'm all for being realistic and contingency planning but here's the list of coaches I call before Chryst:
Harbaugh
Harbaugh
Mullen
Gundy
Miles
Jones
Stoops
Golden
Graham
Patterson
Shaw
Helrich
McElwain
probably a half dozen college and pro coordinators who at least have a chance at being better head coaches
and Scott Shaffer
October 17th, 2014 at 4:22 PM ^
more I hear about Stoops the more I think he will end up at Michigan. He's gettable and a realistic choice. Harbaughs and Mullen are not and I put Miles as an outside chance.
October 16th, 2014 at 8:13 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 8:55 PM ^
YOU STOP THAT!
October 16th, 2014 at 8:41 PM ^
doesn't look very good.
hard to imagine this kind of hire doing anything other than making people go: huh?
October 16th, 2014 at 8:46 PM ^
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.
October 16th, 2014 at 9:05 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 16th, 2014 at 10:43 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 9:06 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 9:29 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 9:31 PM ^
masquerading as a HC.
Not to be confused with a position coach masquerading as a HC at Michigan.
October 16th, 2014 at 10:43 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 11:25 PM ^
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.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 17th, 2014 at 5:36 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 17th, 2014 at 8:23 AM ^
This is what I have been saying all along. If the homerun isnt in the bag, then stay the course. I don't know who you end up with because I am not sure who the next big thing is out there but I don't think either Harbaugh, Miles or Mullen is coming to A^2.
October 17th, 2014 at 9:22 AM ^
Agree. If anybody replaces Hoke it should be someone who has already had success at the head coach level and has an above .500 win average. I don't think they can take a chance on a coordinator and hope it turns out well. The program will have bogged completely down at that point and if it's decided that Hoke has to go, then the next guy has to come in and inject new life and energy to the program. There are only a few names out there that could potentially do that.
October 17th, 2014 at 5:05 PM ^
hiring a coordinator after a decade in the woods and turning it around immediately is what happened at OU under Stoops
just sayin
October 17th, 2014 at 10:04 AM ^
I think without the (homerun coach) a better question is who can we get to replace Funk? At seasons end we must replace Funk, I am tired of teams out rushing us with the less talented lineman and running backs. If it weren't for our defense, rushing totals would really look alot worse.
October 17th, 2014 at 4:29 PM ^
OK - keeping Hoke is not an option; ain't gonna happen.
Man, people get their bearings off with one clumsy victory over a mediocre club at home.
October 17th, 2014 at 9:16 AM ^
Paul Chryst?? NEXT!
October 17th, 2014 at 10:21 AM ^
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.