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December 29, 2011

The general media response to the Chryst hiring has been positive.

 

“It sounds like he’s a good man for Pitt,” Dorsett said. “We’ve got to wait and see. I’m not trying to be any way but cautious. The last couple of hires at Pitt, you know how they turned out. … I’m just hoping and praying he can come to Pitt and do some of the wonderful things he’s done in the past.”

National college football analyst Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com gave Pitt “total thumbs up” for hiring Chryst, calling him a “huge upgrade” after it “whiffed” on its past two hires. Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel called Chryst’s hire “encouraging,” especially after what Pitt has endured.

“Obviously, the last 13 months were a mess for everyone involved, but I do feel they got this one right,” Mandel said. “Paul Chryst is very respected in the profession. He’s the opposite of Todd Graham. He’s not going to jump job to job, putting his name out there. … His coaching style will be a better fit than Todd Graham’s was.”

 

Not a terrible surprise. Only a small number of hirings are ever truly panned. Fraud Graham was considered a good hire at the time.

It’s not that the introductory press conference was spectacular or inspiring. It really was rather standard. Little hints of personality, but otherwise nothing seems overwhelmingly memorable to me nearly a week later. After last year, not standing out at the presser seemed to actually “win the press conference” for people with regards to Chryst.

Chryst also comes across as genuine, no small issue given Pederson’s brutal hires of Mike Haywood and Todd Graham. The son of a high school football coach and father of three, he spoke with a soft but serious tone and sounded anything but self-absorbed.

Among Graham’s many missteps at his introductory news conference was that he boasted about the greatness of his system even more than he boasted about grandiose goals.

This was refreshing.

 

There’s the usual “human” side that gets played up after the hire. How Chryst has a respect for the game, comes from a football family, has a very good family life, etc.

The thing that all parties rave about Chryst is that he is adaptable to the players and the situations. Not to be cynical, but most coaches claim that. Fraud Graham spoke of it in terms of putting players in a position to succeed and playing to their strengths — albeit within his system. The reason for optimism, is that there is a track record with Chryst at Wisconsin of adapting to the players.

“He is a master mind when it comes to offense,” Brown said. “I mean, he likes to pound it with the run game and then those play action passes come into play more, but if he senses you can stop our passing game, he’s going to keep throwing it until you prove you can stop it — and then he will do something else and adjust to what you do.

“But his strength, to me, is that he really knows how to utilize his players and maximize their talents — whether big or small, fast or slow, he finds ways to get players on the field and finds ways for them to succeed within the context of the offense.”

Wisconsin co-defensive coordinator Charlie Partridge said that in addition to Chryst’s adaptability year to year based on his personnel, one of his strengths as a coach is that he is able to make adjustments quickly after a game starts and he is very good at exploiting whatever weakness the opposing defense might have that day.

“I’ve seen it up close many times — something we thought was going to work may not be working, and he’ll make a slight adjustment to it or tweak it or maybe even do something different all together, and next thing you know we’re moving right down the field,” Partridge said. “That’s really what, in my mind, sets him apart and makes him a great football coach. He always seems to have a Plan B and sometimes even a Plan C when his first thought doesn’t work.”

That sounds great, but he has always done that in the context of being the OC. Now he has to be able to do that as the head coach. Juggling a lot more. Not being able to simply focus on tweaking the offense while the defense is out on the field. He’s going to have to trust his new offensive coordinator  — Bob Bostad, who was Wisconsin’s O-line coach. Growing pains will occur.

A big moment from Chryst’s press conference for most came when he talked about his goals.

“You really don’t announce anything today,” Chryst said to a roomful of people that included his wife, three children, mother and brother. “It’s really shallow if you announce what you’re going to do. Actions have to show it, not words.

“And that’s what I am excited for, when this is over, to be able to start putting the action and the plan together.”

That was the winning line for everyone. Just such a modest and stark contrast to Fraud Graham. Which Chryst completely tried to distance himself from that comparison at his first opportunity.

You made reference several times during your press conference about treating players the right way, and letting actions speak instead of words. Did you feel you needed to say that because of the way everything went down with your predecessor?

PC: No, and I’m glad you brought that up. I feel bad because what I was trying to say is it was the players I’ve been around at Oregon State, at Wisconsin that put you in this position, and I honestly feel pretty bad if it was perceived that way. I know you can’t ignore what happened in history, but honestly, it gave me this opportunity so I’m pretty thankful for the opportunity. But when I was talking about players and me, I am up there as much because of what those guys have done. No coach does it on his own. Why do you get these positions? Because you win games, you have success, people want to take somebody from a successful program. Pretty boilerplate, right? But at the same point, I wasn’t the only reason for the success. I wasn’t sending messages as much as sending a thanks and a realization that I’m up there as a reflection of them, just as they are a reflection of me on the field.

He probably didn’t, but comparisons to his predecessor are inevitable.

More in a bit. I am having focus issues with both my kids are having playovers and funny thing — it is more disruptive with this many kids screaming, fighting and creating general chaos.





“It’s really shallow if you announce what you’re going to do. Actions have to show it, not words”

Paul Chryst

“Don’t try, Do!”

Yoda

Comment by Ghost of Hornman 12.29.11 @ 10:46 am

Like everyone else, Chryst cannot be accurately judged until Year 3 or so.

Comment by wbb 12.29.11 @ 10:55 am

One more thing .. since Chryst is an offensive coach, I believe his DC will be his most significant hire

Comment by wbb 12.29.11 @ 10:57 am

DR Tom i to am worryed that the names of pitts new staff arent posted.
but i will hold my worry back untill jan 3 but if there are no names bye then than i would say he is haveing a hard time puting one together.
and then i will be upset.

Comment by FRANKCAN 12.29.11 @ 11:06 am

We won’t know anything till kickoff 2012.
That seems so far away, but keep the faith.
Hail to Pitt!!

Comment by Tackle made by Hugh 12.29.11 @ 11:15 am

I think Paul Chryst is perfect for PItt. My opposition to a spread coach was because of the difficulty involved with the transition. I wanted to see someone who ran a pro-style offence because many of the pieces were in place. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. I think Steve Pederson was enamored with the “high Octane’ spread ans wanted to make a big splash. All I could think about was 2 or 3 years of struggle with the transition until the talent to run the spread was in place. Paul Chryst has a terrific reputation as an X and O s guy and is spoken highly of by almost everyone who knows him.

Comment by Justinian 12.29.11 @ 11:26 am

@ Ghost : Not to be nitpicky, but the actual quote is, “Do or do not… there is no try.” 🙂

Comment by yeahimajerk 12.29.11 @ 11:26 am

frankcan, he has guys in place, just as he said in his presser, he just hasn’t announced them yet. it’s not that big of a deal. even if he had announced them, what would they do? it’s a recruiting dead period and they cant coach Pitts players till after the bbva compass bowl anyways.

Comment by pk 12.29.11 @ 11:51 am

pk i think he said he had guys in mind that is different than in place.
and names all ways leak out and except for one none have so i have my worry until jan 3 then we will know.

Comment by FRANKCAN 12.29.11 @ 12:11 pm

he said he has a core group of guys on the way. and if u want to worry about it that’s fine I just font see what the problem could be

Comment by pk 12.29.11 @ 12:39 pm

he did not say they were on the way.
but one more name just leaked dave huxtable wisconsin LB coach will be comeing to PITT .
I think he will be our DC but i dont know that he was voted best LB coach of the year and before he went to wisconsin he was the DC of centeral flordia.

Comment by FRANKCAN 12.29.11 @ 12:47 pm

thanks for the update, FRANKCAN. checked out Huxtable bio and he looks to be a nice addition. Like you said, former DC (experienced) and LB award winning coach (with our young LB crew) on a Rose Bowl team.

Comment by Bossdaws 12.29.11 @ 12:55 pm

Bossdaws huxtable also coached 3 years at north carolina so knows abought the ACC we need that.

Comment by FRANKCAN 12.29.11 @ 12:59 pm

FRANK – as we said before PITT isn’t going to formally hire any staff until the HC has formally started his tenure at PITT.

Let’s say PITT hires three guys Chryst wants on his staff today and puts them under contract. Then Chryst pulls a Haywood tonight (never happen!). PITT then wouldn’t allow his contract come into effect. But PITT would be stuck paying those three guys a salary or buying them out because they signed them early.

P/S: If he did pull a Haywood tonight PITT would be screaming that he wasn’t PITT’s HC until Jan 3rd – bet on it.

Comment by Reed 12.29.11 @ 1:09 pm

Well, this isn’t a good start.

“Posted by Chris Dokish

Ryan Watson, the excellent DT from Maryland has committed to Purdue. Considered a strong Pitt lean as of a few weeks ago, Watson changed his mind while Paul Chryst was at the Rose Bowl. Did Chryst ever call him? If not, a major failure for him. Should know soon if Chryst talked to him at all.”

Comment by Steelfan 12.29.11 @ 1:17 pm

Once Chryst aaaembles his staff – there will be some additonal committs – we all need to relax until after the Rose Bowl.

Comment by markp 12.29.11 @ 1:24 pm

REED what do you think is huxtable our new DC i cant see him leaveing as wisconsins LB coach to come here to coach LB at PITT i bet he is our new DC.

Comment by FRANKCAN 12.29.11 @ 1:31 pm

steelfan, ounds scetchy. Watson just talked to scout yesterday saying Pitt or purdue and neither rivals or scout have him committed yet

Comment by pk 12.29.11 @ 1:46 pm

pk steelfan is right i just checked he committed to purdue.

Comment by FRANKCAN 12.29.11 @ 2:05 pm

yea, I just read that also. im just saying that’s weird that 1 day its 50/50 the next he’s committed.

Comment by pk 12.29.11 @ 2:14 pm

Thought it would be interesting to see what these talking heads praising the Chryst hire thought of the Graham hire at the time. Dennis Dodd ranked Pitt’s hiring Graham as #2 out of 21 hires last year:

2. Todd Graham, Pittsburgh : Within hours of being introduced, the former Tulsa coach had talked to top coaches in the WPIAL — the fabled western Pennsylvania high school league. Within days Graham had coaxed unofficial visits out of a bunch of that league’s top players. At a Pittsburgh basketball game, he unzipped his jacket to reveal an “Oakland Zoo” (student section) T-shirt. Dave Wannstedt’s forced resignation was a mess. Mike Haywood’s firing was messier. In a week, Graham has brought some desperately needed positive energy to the Panthers. Expect a high-flying offense, one that was once coordinated by Gus Malzahn under Graham at Tulsa. Also expect tight ends and fullbacks, Pittsburgh. At first this seemed like an odd hire — a Texas native by way of Oklahoma in Steel Town. Then it made sense after a do-over search almost blown by AD Steve Pederson. Pittsburgh needed something different. It also needed a gulp of Five Hour Energy. Graham brought both.

Comment by Jdubb 12.29.11 @ 2:42 pm

then what happens after 5 hours?

Comment by wbb 12.29.11 @ 2:48 pm

ok well nobody would have expected Graham to do what he did, especially after only one year.

Comment by pk 12.29.11 @ 2:48 pm

All due respect pk but I think just about any Rice Football fan expected it or at least considered it extremely plausible.

Comment by BCPITT 12.29.11 @ 2:51 pm

bcpitt, the amount of ppl who would’ve predicted Graham to leave Pitt via a text message to an assistant who forwarded it on an email sent to the players after resigning because the ad refused to let him speak to another school and then left after a 6-6 record in his first year is very minimal.

Comment by pk 12.29.11 @ 2:58 pm

touché!

Comment by BCPITT 12.29.11 @ 3:00 pm

haha

Comment by pk 12.29.11 @ 3:13 pm

pk, on the other hand, I gurantee I would have answered the following question correctly:

What Pitt FB coach would most likely leave Pitt via a text message to an assistant who forwarded it on an email sent to the players after resigning because the ad refused to let him speak to another school and then left after a 6-6 record?

A. Wanny
B. Walt
C. Mike Heywood
D. Fraud Graham

Comment by wbb 12.29.11 @ 3:15 pm

I probably would have too I’m just saying u can’t blame a guy for thinking it was a good hire at the time. hindsight is 20/20

Comment by pk 12.29.11 @ 3:18 pm

To all of you panicking about not having a staff announced yet. Relax! Think of it this way. Who has the most at stake in regards to the success of Pitt Football? That’s correct, Paul Chryst. I am sure that PC has not been so successful by flying by the seat of his pants. He is surrounded by mentors who are successfull coaches. Like he said at his presser, he will let his actions and the RESULTS do his talking. He knows what is at stake for him. He definitely is driven to be successful. A little patience and support from us will go a long way.

Comment by jw in Raleigh 12.29.11 @ 4:09 pm

While Spence looks like a great recruit one kid isn’t going to show anything about Chryst’s recruiting. There could be any number of reasons he chose elsewhere… and things could change between now and Feb 3rd anyway.

Which BTW applies for the recruits we thing we have locked up.

But we’ll see things begin to move very fast on Jan 3rd and IMO we’ll be happy with the way the recruiting closes out.

FRANK – I don’t know anything about Coach Huxtable coming on board, but I hope he does. My ‘source’ I mentioned was strictly for the Tomsula issue only.

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