Morgantown, West Virginia – When Wisconsin announced that they were firing their head coach of eight years, Paul Chryst, Shane Lyons should have immediately picked up the phone and inquired about his interest at West Virginia.
Chryst, who has an 86-45 overall record and a 7-2 record in bowl games during his career, was shockingly fired by Wisconsin last night after the Badgers started the season with a 2-3 record.
Prior to coaching at Wisconsin, Chryst was the head coach at Pitt for three seasons, and then “went home” to coach at Wisconsin where he was born. At Wisconsin, he won 3 Big Ten West Division championships (2016, 2017 and 2019) and was the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2017.
Chryst got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at West Virginia University during the 1989-1990 season under the legendary Don Nehlen before making stops at various places in the Canadian Football League, NFL and ultimately back to college football.
Chryst, 56, earned his master’s degree from West Virginia University, and certainly has many years as a head coach remaining. If Neal Brown is dismissed this season – as he already should have been – it would be difficult to find a more experienced, accomplished head coach to replace Brown as the next head coach of the Mountaineers.
Breaking: Paul Chryst is out as Wisconsin's head coach, a source told @ESPNRittenberg. pic.twitter.com/AWvhKjdqt6
— ESPN (@espn) October 2, 2022
