Chryst

[BFo8]

The B1G has four teams in this week's Top 10 - one of which is the Wisconsin Badgers. Chryst is OBVIOUSLY a good coach and he's OBVIOUSLY doing a great job at Wisconsin in a tough league.

You don't have to like a guy or think he's the greatest coach in the world. However, you do have to acknowledge reality.

Is anyone on here old enough to remember the television show "Happy Days"? Remember how Fonzi could never say that he was wrong?

He would just kind of stammer and studder but he could never say the word "wrong" because it would inhibit his coolness factor.

That's what happens here a lot of time. People just can't bring themselves to admit it even when they are clearly and obviously wrong.

With Chryst that means discrediting him at every turn. That means that he gets no credit for any of their successes and all of the blame for all of their failures.

None of their big wins are actually all that big and when that doesn't work we have to credit everyone from Alvarez to Anderson to the former defensice coordinator to the current defensive coordinator to the drum major in the marching band to the head of the cheerleading team. Anyone but the guy who is actually coaching the team.

Before too long it starts to be as ridiculous as the scene below.

View embedded media

The good news is we have a better coach now. We just need to give him more time and he will get it done. I have no doubt about that.

Here is my issue with anyone saying how good a coach Chryst is.

Yesterday's OT win obviously could have gone either way.

Had Nebraska ended up winning in OT there would not be one person on here saying anything positive about Chryst. Instead you would see multiple negative comments about how after a great start Wisconsin was now 5-3 and it's the same Sleepy Paul Chryst.

So basically you have people judging whether or not Chryst is a good coach by one play in an OT game.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Here is my issue with anyone saying how good a coach Chryst is.

Yesterday's OT win obviously could have gone either way.

Had Nebraska ended up winning in OT there would not be one person on here saying anything positive about Chryst. Instead you would see multiple negative comments about how after a great start Wisconsin was now 5-3 and it's the same Sleepy Paul Chryst.

So basically you have people judging whether or not Chryst is a good coach by one play in an OT game.

Evened out though as the same applies to the OT loss v. tOSU.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

Continuing to show he is a very good coach. Big upset of Nebraska, and his team is really only a couple of plays away against OSU from being in the playoff consideration.

Wish he coached like that against Youngstown St

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

The B1G has four teams in this week's Top 10 - one of which is the Wisconsin Badgers. Chryst is OBVIOUSLY a good coach and he's OBVIOUSLY doing a great job at Wisconsin in a tough league.

You don't have to like a guy or think he's the greatest coach in the world. However, you do have to acknowledge reality.

Is anyone on here old enough to remember the television show "Happy Days"? Remember how Fonzi could never say that he was wrong?

He would just kind of stammer and studder but he could never say the word "wrong" because it would inhibit his coolness factor.

That's what happens here a lot of time. People just can't bring themselves to admit it even when they are clearly and obviously wrong.

With Chryst that means discrediting him at every turn. That means that he gets no credit for any of their successes and all of the blame for all of their failures.

None of their big wins are actually all that big and when that doesn't work we have to credit everyone from Alvarez to Anderson to the former defensice coordinator to the current defensive coordinator to the drum major in the marching band to the head of the cheerleading team. Anyone but the guy who is actually coaching the team.

Before too long it starts to be as ridiculous as the scene below.

View embedded media

The good news is we have a better coach now. We just need to give him more time and he will get it done. I have no doubt about that.

other than Michigan, yinzer, what makes the Big 10 a "tough" league? In fact it is probably the worse P5 out there. Purdue is very bad, but somehow Rutgers and Illinois make them look good. So that's three bottom dwellars that outside of Kansas no other conference has the good fortune of playing. And Indiana is probably on par with Duke, which is in the bottom tier of ACC but Indiana is considered mid-tier in Big 10.

MSU is very bad this year; Nebraska couldn't pass to save their lives and have a mediocre coach who played for a tie and lost last night. Iowa....aside from last year they are no better than VaTech. OSU is of course good, but lost this year to PSU who lost to us.....

So tell me again yinzer, I know you are a card carrying member of the Chryst fan club, what makes the B1G so tough and Chryst so great this year?

 

[revampedpanthers]

he is a solid coach. In the perfect situation for him. Most coaches are solid guys who with in the right situation can have lots of success. Think Rich Rod is a great coach? He sure looked like he was at WVU. He didn't at MI and now is struggling again in AZ. Very few coaches are Urban Meyer or Saban types who can win anywhere they go quickly. Most need the right players/schedule fall in their laps and then they will win. Wrong situation and they won't. Lets see where PC is in two or three years. That division is really not very good. Iowa and NB other than a few years have largely been 7-5 or 8-4 teams. Everyone else is bad. I would expect him to settle into a 9-3 type with the occasional 7-5 and 11-2 type season's.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

other than Michigan, yinzer, what makes the Big 10 a "tough" league? In fact it is probably the worse P5 out there. Purdue is very bad, but somehow Rutgers and Illinois make them look good. So that's three bottom dwellars that outside of Kansas no other conference has the good fortune of playing. And Indiana is probably on par with Duke, which is in the bottom tier of ACC but Indiana is considered mid-tier in Big 10.

MSU is very bad this year; Nebraska couldn't pass to save their lives and have a mediocre coach who played for a tie and lost last night. Iowa....aside from last year they are no better than VaTech. OSU is of course good, but lost this year to PSU who lost to us.....

So tell me again yinzer, I know you are a card carrying member of the Chryst fan club, what makes the B1G so tough and Chryst so great this year?

For the one millionth time, I am not a fan of any non-Pitt coach. I root for the Pitt Panthers, that's where my support lies. I just think that the way we judge coaches is completely ridiculous and it causes us to make a lot of bad decisions.

The guy inherited a tire fire here and did a very good job of stabilizing a program that had been left teetering on the brink of self-destruction by a series of serious self-inflicted wounds.

That is inarguable.

I will always believe that we were about to win with him when he left for Wisconsin.

I said this at the time, I'll say this now and I'll say this 10 years from now – Paul Chryst is a significantly better coach than Todd Graham, a guy whom many of our boneheads thought walked on water. Chryst can actually adjust his system to fit his talent.

I'm not a Chryst guy but I absolutely acknowledge that he is a good coach. I'm cool with people disagreeing with me, but let's do it honestly.

People that want to discredit or minimize that program's successes, or credit everyone but the coach for them while at the same time blaming him for every loss, are not being honest with themselves or with the rest of us.

Look, here is the bottom line. Wisconsin is 6–2 with their only losses being one score games against Michigan and Ohio State – two teams whom I believe are going to play in the college football playoff.

That's pretty good.

And it completely flies in the face of all of the preseason predictions that had them being humbled against their "gauntlet" of a schedule.

Yesterday, they beat No. 7 Nebraska in another very close game – with a freshman quarterback, no kicker, and without their best defensive player.

Bad coaches simply don't do that – not at a program like Wisconsin.

As for the conference, I was touting the Big Ten because in the poll that came out this afternoon they have four of the top 10 teams in the country. That is pretty rarefied air in the current climate and is normally reserved for the SEC.

Now, you can argue all day whether or not the poll system is accurate – it is not – but that's a different discussion altogether.

Under the current system, using the current poll, it is inarguable that the B1G is a great conference, or at the very least is having a very good year.

I just think it is crazy, and frankly more than a little embarrassing, that people cannot admit what is very plain for everyone to see. However, if you would prefer to grab your knees, rock back-and-forth vigorously and hum real loudly so as to not have to face reality, that's up to you.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Gene, you didn't comprehend a word I wrote. Yeah, 4 in the top 10 is good, but Nebraska has been exposed, and to a lesser extent so has OSU. And their are 8 other teams in the big 10 this year; PSU proving to be okay, but they lost to us and we are terrible according to most posters here, so what does that leave them?

so that leaves the three bottom dwellars mentioned recently, plus new bottom dwellar MSU. And while not bottom dwellars in the B10, Minnesota, Maryland, Indiana and Northwestern would finish last in the Coastal.

So how is the B1G inarguably great and Chryst's accomplishments hall of fame worthy?

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Come on, buddy this is dumb. Nobody is fitting him for his Hall of Fame ring. I am simply saying he is clearly a good football coach and people that continue to insist otherwise - in the face of a mountain of evidence against them - do so at their own risk.

I don't agree that anyone was exposed or anything like that. I do agree that the Big 10 is top (and bottom) heavy. However, you would be hard-pressed finding a pundit anywhere who would agree that the ACC is a better football conference.

You can have the final word. I don't need to say anything more. The guy's performance here and out Wisconsin speaks for itself. However, I'm perfectly fine with the realization that not everyone gets it.

 

[chethejet]

The Big Ten is over rated this year. Last year it was good relative to what it had been. But this year MSU, Iowa, and even OSU are not nearly as good. Michigan was in a dog fight with Colorado until the QB from Colorado got injured. Wisconsin s a program that had a nice year. But over time the mediocrity of HCPC will be exposed.

 

[thebadby2]

I have never been a Chryst believer, and I know he inherited a good situation and a great defense, but it would be hard not to give him his due for what he has done so far at Wisky.

 

[TD_6082]

Serious questions about Chryst: Had he not had close ties to the Wisconsin program, would any other school attempt to poach him from Pitt?

Does anybody think he would have done any better than 7-5 either last year or this year at Pitt? Would he have some job security here? hotseat?

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Serious questions about Chryst: Had he not had close ties to the Wisconsin program, would any other school attempt to poach him from Pitt?

Does anybody think he would have done any better than 7-5 either last year or this year at Pitt? Would he have some job security here? hotseat?

No one wanted him the first time, so it is doubtful anyone else besides wisky would be lingin up for a coach who was 18-18 in three years.

Last year would have been year 4 and his year to show results. He would have been 7-5, with a bowl loss to go 7-6. Hamlin and others would not have signed here. He would be in his first full year with Barnes this year and his seat would be scorching hot. Most likely fired at the end of this year and end up somewhere as an OC. Never has a man been rewarded so greatly for accomplishing so little.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Serious questions about Chryst: Had he not had close ties to the Wisconsin program, would any other school attempt to poach him from Pitt?

Does anybody think he would have done any better than 7-5 either last year or this year at Pitt? Would he have some job security here? hotseat?

I'll answer them.
1.) No chance, but does that matter? Would Chip Kelly have landed the Oregon job had he not already been their OC? Probably not. However, that does not make it a bad hire. What about Kyle Wittingham at Utah? Chris Peterson when he was at Boise State was the exact same deal.

Continuity hires happen all the time. Often times they don't work out but sometimes they do. In my opinion, Wisconsin is like Oregon and Boise State in that they run a very specific system and it takes someone who really understands it to keep it going. Personally, I admire a program that understands what it is and what it is not and recruits to those strengths and away from those weaknesses.

I wish Pitt would figure out its identity and recruit to it. Instead, we are West Coast offense one year, a ground and pound offense the next, a spread offense the year after that, a misdirection offense the next year, etc. That constant radical change in philosophies definitely hurts your program.

2.) I have no idea what Chryst's record would be at Pitt right now – and neither does anyone else?

I think it would be similar to what we saw last year and this year under Narduzzi. I think he would do a better job of utilizing that OL than Chaney did last year and even than Canada has this year. I also think he would mix in more zone – which would camouflage our weaknesses better.

This is not to say that I wish he was still here because I don't feel that way at all. I think our ceiling is higher under Narduzzi than it would have been under Chryst.

I'm just making the point that the guy is not some bumbling buffoon like people kept insisting. That myth has been conclusively shattered. Well, it has been shattered if you are a reasonable person.

For everyone else, I am sure we can look forward to all kinds of mental gymnastics for the next 10 years or so "proving" once and for all that they were right and his record all along was inflated or to the credit of Barry Alvarez or to Gary Anderson or to the drum major in the marching band or to Ron Dwayne or to Bo Ryan or someone else. Anyone one but Chryst.

 

[pittengineer75]

Wisconsin is winning games with their defense (Wilcox likely will leave after this year for HC role). The BigTen, like almost ever year, is also very very vastly overrated. Nebraska's best win is against a 3-5 Oregon team, which is why a lot of people outside of the Big Ten homers called their #9 ranking a joke.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Wisconsin is winning games with their defense (Wilcox likely will leave after this year for HC role). The BigTen, like almost ever year, is also very very vastly overrated. Nebraska's best win is against a 3-5 Oregon team, which is why a lot of people outside of the Big Ten homers called their #9 ranking a joke.

I don't disagree with any of that. However, these are the (stupid) rules by which we have chosen to play so if they apply to one, they apply to all.

 

[TD_6082]

I'll answer them.
1.) No chance, but does that matter? Would Chip Kelly have landed the Oregon job had he not already been their OC? Probably not. However, that does not make it a bad hire. What about Kyle Wittingham at Utah? Chris Peterson when he was at Boise State was the exact same deal.

Continuity hires happen all the time. Often times they don't work out but sometimes they do. In my opinion, Wisconsin is like Oregon and Boise State in that they run a very specific system and it takes someone who really understands it to keep it going. Personally, I admire a program that understands what it is and what it is not and recruits to those strengths and away from those weaknesses.

I wish Pitt would figure out its identity and recruit to it. Instead, we are West Coast offense one year, a ground and pound offense the next, a spread offense the year after that, a misdirection offense the next year, etc. That constant radical change in philosophies definitely hurts your program.

2.) I have no idea what Chryst's record would be at Pitt right now – and neither does anyone else?

I think it would be similar to what we saw last year and this year under Narduzzi. I think he would do a better job of utilizing that OL than Chaney did last year and even than Canada has this year. I also think he would mix in more zone – which would camouflage our weaknesses better.

This is not to say that I wish he was still here because I don't feel that way at all. I think our ceiling is higher under Narduzzi than it would have been under Chryst.

I'm just making the point that the guy is not some bumbling buffoon like people kept insisting. That myth has been conclusively shattered. Well, it has been shattered if you are a reasonable person.

For everyone else, I am sure we can look forward to all kinds of mental gymnastics for the next 10 years or so "proving" once and for all that they were right and his record all along was inflated or to the credit of Barry Alvarez or to Gary Anderson or to the drum major in the marching band or to Ron Dwayne or to Bo Ryan or someone else. Anyone one but Chryst.

IMO, I don't think Chryst would have been successful at Pitt. If his record would not be any better than Narduzzi's, there is a good chance Pitt would be looking for another coach. With 5 straight 5 loss seasons, its hard to see that coach getting a 6th year. And I will go as far to say that I don't think Chryst would have won as many games as Narduzzi, simply because I think Narduzzi's team's seem to be more hyped to play every game. Chryst's teams would have 2 or 3 games a year where they seemed to lack any sense of urgency.

I also don't think a coach that has a "take your time, look around & see whats out there" philosophy in regards to recruiting is going to work at Pitt. (not sure where that approach would be recommended)

Chryst has proven to be a great OC, but there are only a few specific schools where I think he can be successful as a HC. Luckily for him, Wisconsin is one of them.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

Chryst > HCPN.

Yes, PN is more fiery and has the hate for Franklin...which endears him to Pitt die hards.

But I think Chryst is smarter and a better coach. I don't even think PN is a great recruiter. He's 8-10 slots behind Franklin last year and this year. Sure he'll own Clairton and lots of the WPIAL. That's not a hard thing to do when you're the Panthers coach.

Well, if Chryst is better than Narduzzi, that must mean that he's a lot better than Franklin.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Decent man, good offensive coach.
Head coach, meh!
Terrible communicator/face of program, AND very poor recruiter.
That was the knock on him when he came here, he had no interest in recruiting and did very little of it while at Wiscy.
He must have either gotten a lot better at it, or his assistant coaches are lighting it up.

More than that, I don't know how much his heart was in it here. Especially after the first year and Bielema left for Arkansas and Alvarez didn't come calling for him right away.

 

[revampedpanthers]

Serious questions about Chryst: Had he not had close ties to the Wisconsin program, would any other school attempt to poach him from Pitt?

Does anybody think he would have done any better than 7-5 either last year or this year at Pitt? Would he have some job security here? hotseat?

NO he wouldn't have won more than 7 with connor going down in the first game. He wouldn't have brought in Nate Peterman and its clear now that voytik isn't a D1 QB. He would have struggled to win 7 in my opinion. I do think he is a decent HC and a good offensive mind.

 

[revampedpanthers]

I'll answer them.
1.) No chance, but does that matter? Would Chip Kelly have landed the Oregon job had he not already been their OC? Probably not. However, that does not make it a bad hire. What about Kyle Wittingham at Utah? Chris Peterson when he was at Boise State was the exact same deal.

Continuity hires happen all the time. Often times they don't work out but sometimes they do. In my opinion, Wisconsin is like Oregon and Boise State in that they run a very specific system and it takes someone who really understands it to keep it going. Personally, I admire a program that understands what it is and what it is not and recruits to those strengths and away from those weaknesses.

I wish Pitt would figure out its identity and recruit to it. Instead, we are West Coast offense one year, a ground and pound offense the next, a spread offense the year after that, a misdirection offense the next year, etc. That constant radical change in philosophies definitely hurts your program.

2.) I have no idea what Chryst's record would be at Pitt right now – and neither does anyone else?

I think it would be similar to what we saw last year and this year under Narduzzi. I think he would do a better job of utilizing that OL than Chaney did last year and even than Canada has this year. I also think he would mix in more zone – which would camouflage our weaknesses better.

This is not to say that I wish he was still here because I don't feel that way at all. I think our ceiling is higher under Narduzzi than it would have been under Chryst.

I'm just making the point that the guy is not some bumbling buffoon like people kept insisting. That myth has been conclusively shattered. Well, it has been shattered if you are a reasonable person.

For everyone else, I am sure we can look forward to all kinds of mental gymnastics for the next 10 years or so "proving" once and for all that they were right and his record all along was inflated or to the credit of Barry Alvarez or to Gary Anderson or to the drum major in the marching band or to Ron Dwayne or to Bo Ryan or someone else. Anyone one but Chryst.

Only reason I didn't want PC to leave for wisconsin. You are correct we have changed philosophy on offense and defense drastically from coach to coach and this has made the process even worse than just changing coaches. On offense we went from west coast pass happy to power fb to read option and back to power again. Thankfully PN wants a offense similar to what PC ran.