Native son

Paul Chryst returns home to make his mark on Wisconsin Badgers football

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The elevator ride up to the eighth floor of Camp Randall Stadium, where the University of Wisconsin football offices are located, goes surprisingly fast. Upon arrival, visitors and staff alike enter through large glass doors into a spacious lobby that affords a breathtaking, wide-angle view of the stadium in all its glory.

Beyond the four giant Big Ten trophies on the room’s centerpiece display and the glass-encased trophies from various Rose, Outback, Capital One and Champs Sports bowls (a few fingerprints remain visible on their shiny chrome) lies a hallway that meanders around a corner to the right. At the end of that hall, a door on the left leads into new UW football coach Paul Chryst’s office — a well-appointed room no doubt larger than some of the apartments his players live in.

It’s much too much space for Chryst, an opinion the 49-year-old coach quickly divulges at the beginning of an interview with Isthmus four days before his new team was scheduled to report to its first practice on Aug. 9.

The office is thick with wood accents and oversize Badger red furniture. Four chairs sit around a small meeting table on which rests a bowl of individually wrapped Life Savers.

Could there be a more perfect metaphor to represent the challenge in front of Chryst?

On Dec. 17, the former UW assistant coach, who left in 2012 to take over as head coach at the University of Pittsburgh, was introduced as the 30th head coach in Wisconsin history. His mission: To bring stability back to a once-ironclad program that hasn’t experienced a lot of consistency during the past three years.

Chryst wants to do so by building athletes who are winners on the field but also good students and good people off it.

Who better for that job than one of Madison’s favorite sons? Born and raised in the city as the fourth of five children, Chryst played quarterback for the Badgers in the mid-1980s, graduated from UW with a political science degree, worked as an intern at the Capitol and eventually spent several years on Wisconsin’s coaching staff. Chryst’s dad, George, played and coached football at Wisconsin; he also coached at Edgewood High School and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

“You don’t ever think the kid next door will grow up to be head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers,” says John Roach, a video producer and Madison Magazine columnist who was Chryst’s neighbor growing up on Vilas Avenue in the 1970s. “But it’s not a surprise that Paul has had success. He comes from a highly principled, hard-working family with deep roots in Madison. He’s worked all over North America and then had the opportunity to come back home. It’s a beautiful thing.”

When Chryst’s hiring was announced, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank praised his “vast football knowledge and coaching talent” and deep ties to the university and state. “There is no one better prepared to lead the Wisconsin Badgers into the future than Paul Chryst,” she said. “Wisconsin football is in his family’s DNA. We are proud to welcome him home. I look to Paul not only to be a first-rate coach, but also to represent our values around academics and citizenship.”

Badger fans were similarly enthusiastic, which probably explains why somebody made a small fortune selling rapidly produced “Merry Chrystmas” T-shirts in and around Madison during the holidays last year. In fact, when the head coaching vacancy opened in early December, Badger fans presumed Chryst would be heir to the throne. Few other names were tossed about.

For the past two decades, the Wisconsin faithful were not accustomed to seeing the football program in turbulence. But Badger football’s been through some tough times in recent years. A week prior to Chryst’s introduction as Wisconsin’s new head coach, his predecessor, Gary Andersen, announced his departure after two years at the helm. He cited family matters as the reason for his move to Oregon State but later told national media outlets that Wisconsin’s admissions standards for football players were too tough.

Andersen’s short tenure began following Bret Bielema’s surprise defection to Arkansas after the 2012 regular season. During seven fruitful years, Bielema led the Badgers to three Big Ten titles and a bowl game every season.

Before all the upheaval, current UW athletic director Barry Alvarez coached the Badgers through the university’s most fertile football years ever, reversing the fortunes of a team that won only nine games in four years during the late 1980s and delivering Wisconsin its first-ever Rose Bowl Championship on New Year’s Day 1994.

There’s no arguing Chryst’s experience. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant while at West Virginia University, where he earned a master’s degree in educational administration. Chryst also was an assistant coach with the National Football League’s San Diego Chargers, the Canadian Football League’s Ottawa Rough Riders and Saskatchewan Roughriders, and the defunct World League of American Football’s San Antonio Riders, as well as at UW-Platteville, Illinois State and Oregon State — all between 1989 and 2004.

He also was tight ends coach at Wisconsin during the Alvarez era in 2002 and then returned in 2005. Chryst eventually became the Badgers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Bielema — overseeing the development of future NFL quarterbacks Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks) and Scott Tolzien (Green Bay Packers).

“Coach Chryst is not a flashy guy, and that’s the thing I probably respect the most about him,” Tolzien told UWBadgers.com. “He doesn’t go around talking about what he is going to do. He is a person of action and sincerity, and also a great teacher of the game.”

Chryst took his first head coaching job at Pittsburgh in 2012. Last season, during the Panthers’ second year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the team went 6-7 and lost to Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl. But Pitt ranked 15th in the country in rushing offense, averaging 251.3 yards per game on the ground.

Chryst says he wouldn’t have left Pittsburgh for any job other than the Wisconsin gig.

Part of what makes Paul Chryst a likeable guy is that he’s soft-spoken and down-to-earth. And while the soundbite is not his friend — his sentences tend to trail off when answering a question — his honesty makes up for it. He is straightforward, even when asked how the UW football program has changed during the three years he was away.

“This is a different team than when I left — in how players trained and how they practiced,” he says, adding that he had to delay a winter weight-training program for players upon his arrival because “they weren’t ready for it.”

Players, he says, are victims of circumstance. “When I went to Pitt, I was the third head coach for some of the guys. Same thing here. The biggest thing for me is making sure this team has long-term plans and visions. What we implement has to stand the test of time. That starts by making sure we’re doing all we can for this group of players this year.”

After news broke in July that Badgers recruit Jordan Stevenson was rejected for failing to meet academic requirements, Chryst faced questions about whether the university’s admissions standards are too high — as Andersen claimed. Alvarez, meanwhile, is working to convince administration officials to allow coaches to have more input into admissions evaluations.

“Not everyone fits into a nice little box,” Chryst tells Isthmus. “No one wants a kid to succeed more than us, and failure hurts us as much as anyone, other than the kid himself. So we have a vested interest. I think there are situations that we can bring kids in who add value to this university in a lot of ways — not just on the field — but they don’t fit into that clean little box.”

One of the first major player personnel decisions Chryst made was naming fifth-year senior Joel Stave the Badgers’ starting quarterback in May. Although it might be tough to believe, given Stave’s up-and-down career with the Badgers, during which he sustained multiple injuries and often played inconsistently, he’s 21-7 and just nine wins away from tying Brooks Bollinger as the winningest quarterback in UW history.

“Joel’s never gone into camp knowing he has the starting job,” Chryst says. “And that’s one of the things that will help him grow as a player.”

Last season, Andersen stirred controversy by giving Tanner McEvoy the start in UW’s first game against LSU — which the Badgers lost 28-24 after leading 17-7 at halftime — and then platooning Stave and McEvoy in future games.

“I don’t even have to know all the details about that, because Joel’s got mental toughness,” Chryst says of his decision to go with Stave. “He’s overcome a lot of stuff. I watch him, and I get excited. I asked him who should be the starting quarterback. He said himself. If he didn’t say that, we’re both in trouble. Then I asked him who can beat him. He said, ‘Nobody.’ Another good sign. I just put it out there. You don’t have to bullshit with these kids. He’s done a lot, and he’s earned the right. I think he can still be better.”

McEvoy, another redshirt senior, has spent most of his practice time at safety and wide receiver since Chryst’s arrival. He likely will join a receiving corps that needs to reestablish itself this season, with only two returning players hauling in more than 10 catches last season; Alex Erickson had 55 for 772 receiving yards, and Jordan Fredrick caught 13 for 126 yards.

On defense, Chryst is looking for significant contributions at the outside linebacker position. Redshirt sophomore T.J. Watt, youngest brother of former Badger and current Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, moves to the position after suffering major knee injuries last season and this spring. Meanwhile, position veterans Vince Biegel (56 tackles last season) and Joe Schobert (69 tackles) will be called upon to pick up where they left off.

A proponent of the 4-3 defense — a formation using four linemen and three linebackers — Chryst nevertheless is likely to let third-year defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Dave Aranda run a 3-4 defense. Under Aranda’s watch, Wisconsin’s defense has allowed an average of 299.4 yards per game, good for third among FBS (Division I Football Bowl Subdivision) programs over the last two seasons, behind only Louisville (280.5) and Michigan State (282.9). 

“He loves the game and is a good communicator,” Chryst says about Aranda. “I think our coaching philosophies are pretty similar, and I like what he does. He still believes in the fundamentals, and I’m all for good defense. Before, my job was to just lock in on the offense and not worry about the rest.”

Other than Aranda, most of Andersen’s UW coaching staff didn’t stick around. But Chryst brought six coaches with him from Pitt, including former Badger assistants Joe Rudolph (associate head coach/offensive coordinator), John Settle (running backs) and Ross Kolodziej (head strength and conditioning coach), plus UW alum Mickey Turner (tight ends), Inoke Breckterfield (defensive line) and Chris Haering (special teams).

Thanks to a Big Ten West Division free of Michigan State and Ohio State — which annihilated Wisconsin in the 2014 Big Ten Championship game, 56-0 — the Badgers under Chryst have the potential to run the table against conference opponents. The toughest tests will come against Iowa and at Nebraska and Minnesota. Should the Badgers win two of these three games, look for them to meet the Buckeyes for a Big Ten title rematch at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium on Dec. 5.

You don’t have to ask Paul Chryst if coaching the Badgers is his ultimate job. He readily volunteers the answer, whether speaking to a lunchtime meeting of the Rotary Club of Madison or in formal interview settings.

“Everyone asks if this is my dream job. I’ve always felt that if I get to coach, that’s a dream job in and of itself,” Chryst says. “Now, I get to coach at Wisconsin, and that makes it more special. There’s a spirit about Madison. It’s hard to describe, but you know it, you can identify it.”

“I think Badger football is a celebration of community,” Roach says. “Paul is from this community; Gary Andersen wasn’t. And that makes a difference.”

One of the messages Chryst imparts to his players is to get out and take advantage of Madison’s distinct culture. Visit the Dane County Farmers’ Market on the Capitol Square, go for a run along the Lake Monona shore or take in one of the Concerts on the Square — something Chryst, during all his years in Madison — never did until this summer.

Madison is Paul Chryst’s home, and he wants his players and staff to enjoy it. Sure, he’d love to stay here for the rest of his career, too, but nothing’s guaranteed.

“I think you earn the right to end a coaching career where you want to. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it right now, because I’ve won this many games,” Chryst says, making a zero with his fingers. “But I’ve never taken any job where I didn’t want to be there for a long time. This job, I feel really fortunate to have it. I want to be able to leave a mark, and that takes time. That was the hardest thing about leaving Pitt — leaving those players when we hadn’t done what we wanted to do. That was an empty feeling.”

In that moment, the son sounds a lot like the father. When George Chryst died in 1992 at age 55, the obituary in the Wisconsin State Journal noted that Chryst once told a reporter that “after my players go out in the real world, I want them to feel like I’ve helped out in a small way.”

“My dad believed in teaching the game, respecting the game and playing it the right way,” says Chryst, whose older brother, Geep, is the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. (Another older brother, Rick, was commissioner of the Mid-American Conference for 10 years.) “I didn’t make guys like Russell Wilson and Scott Tolzien successful, but I had a hand in it. If you can help someone achieve something big, it’s a pretty cool feeling. I get my energy from the players. That’s why I do what I do. And I think that’s pretty powerful.”

Members of the new coach’s team have already noticed that if a former Badger visits during practice, Chryst will drop whatever he’s doing and take the time to find out what that player has been up to lately.

But then it’s back to work. He knows Wisconsin could make a major statement with a season-opening win over Alabama at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 5. The schedule doesn’t care if it’s your first game as head coach at your alma mater after a tumultuous couple of seasons, though. This is big-time college football, and Chryst is used to the pressure.

“No outside force has ever put any more pressure on me than what I put on myself,” he says. “The pressure I’ve always felt is, ‘Am I giving my players a chance? Am I doing what a coach should do? And am I doing what I said I’d do when I recruited them?’ If I can look every player and every coach in the eye and answer yes to those questions, then I can live with that.”