Paul Chryst out at wisconsin!

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Some Day...Maybe said:
Ok, let’s just look at after the Rose Bowl loss? Coaches get fired for their recent performance. You’re looking at what he did 5 plus years ago and ignoring that he’s been the worst coach at Wisconsin in the last 30 years over these past 4 and a half seasons. But for some reason you want to ignore that. Why? I don’t know.
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How am I "ignoring" his last 4.5 seasons? I just posted a breakdown of those 4.5 seasons, season by season. Post #131 on this thread.
 


Ope3 said:
The proof will be in who the Badgers eventually hire, not who they fired. See Mason Firing > Brewster Hiring.
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That is absolutely true. I just see it as much more likely they will hire someone who ends up being worse than Chryst than better.
 




As a Gopher fan, I'm torn. I'm ecstatic that WI is struggling enough to fire their head coach, but I'm also pretty sure they will upgrade their coaching. I was hoping WI would hang onto Chryst too long (another year or two). It's similar to Brian Ferentz at Iowa, I love the idea of his dad firing him but not as much as him continuing as Iowa's OC.

So, I think this move likely makes WI better in 2-3 years.

That said, the really interesting piece is what will happen next. If I'm Jim Leonhard, I'd be pretty pissed that I'm not getting more than just an audition. He turned down numerous NFL DC jobs, numerous SEC-level DC jobs, and likely head coaching positions. His defense has always been good.

Maybe the interim title is just a show but I don't get that sense. From following WI, I get the sense that a lot of the fans are sick of the same ole group of people (Chryst, Rudolph, etc.) and while they like Leonhard. . .is that really bringing in new blood?

I think they'll look long and hard and Lance Leipold.
 






Big Ten Football Championships

Appearances School Wins Losses
6 Ohio State Buckeyes 5 1
6 Wisconsin Badgers 2 4
3 Michigan State Spartans 2 1
2 Northwestern Wildcats 0 2
2 Iowa Hawkeyes 0 2
1 Penn State Nitt Lions 1 0
1 Michigan Wolverines 1 0
1 Nebraska Cornhuskers 0 1
 

Bunyan said:
Big Ten Football Championships

Appearances School Wins Losses
6 Ohio State Buckeyes 5 1
6 Wisconsin Badgers 2 4
3 Michigan State Spartans 2 1
2 Northwestern Wildcats 0 2
2 Iowa Hawkeyes 0 2
1 Penn State Nitt Lions 1 0
1 Michigan Wolverines 1 0
1 Nebraska Cornhuskers 0 1
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Tied with Ohio State for most appearances in B1G Championship with 6.

Tied with Sparty for second-most wins in CG, with 2.

Will the new hire be expected to better this record?
 

beavergopher said:
Chryst has better pocket presence than Morgan.
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Chryst definitely has a stronger arm. But then, so does everybody else on the planet. Tanner Morgan can't throw 40 yards. I know these things are true because I read them right here on Gopher Hole.
 




Bob_Loblaw said:
As a Gopher fan, I'm torn. I'm ecstatic that WI is struggling enough to fire their head coach, but I'm also pretty sure they will upgrade their coaching.
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I'm sure 90% or more of Nebraska fans thought that about Scott Frost. At least firing Riley was fairly understandable as he had a .500 overall record (12-14 in conference) over 3 years. He clearly underperformed his predecessor. Frost then proceeded to do demonstrably worse.

Perhaps the coaching prospect you mentioned (Leopold) or the current interim coach (if he gets the job) will do better than Chryst but I'm not sure how much better. I don't think Wisconsin is a big threat to reach OSU or Michigan status regardless of who they hire. I also don't think a new hire will duplicate their 14 season win streak against us anytime soon.
 

cjbfbp said:
I'm sure 90% or more of Nebraska fans thought that about Scott Frost. At least firing Riley was fairly understandable as he had a .500 overall record (12-14 in conference) over 3 years. He clearly underperformed his predecessor. Frost then proceeded to do demonstrably worse.

Perhaps the coaching prospect you mentioned (Leopold) or the current interim coach (if he gets the job) will do better than Chryst but I'm not sure how much better. I don't think Wisconsin is a big threat to reach OSU or Michigan status regardless of who they hire. I also don't think a new hire will duplicate their 14 season win streak against us anytime soon.
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You're probably right (odds say you are).

For me, going into this season, I felt confident we had a better coach than WI. Now, I guess we'll see.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I imagine that is the case more than likely. Or at the very worst this is his chance to show he can do the job. Unless he's a total train wreck, it's his job in the long run.

Otherwise, there's little point of making the move mid-season.
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I actually thought the opposite.

If they were going to go with Leonhard, I think it would have made more sense to ride out the season with Chryst and then announce Leonhard is taking over when the season ended. That would have the least impact on recruiting and I think (IMO) it would feel like a more natural progression.

Moving on mid-season feels like they are searching for someone who isn't in-house. I think if you're going to make a move and hire someone new, you'd want to start that search as early as possible.
 

I see a lot of posts talking about whether the new hire will be as successful as Chryst, or match his win %, etc. That's a little misleading as Chryst was on a clear downward trajectory. He had some great seasons from 2015-2017 that are boosting his numbers, but there's nothing in that program that suggests Chryst was going to return them to those levels. You could argue he should get a chance to ride out some down years, but trajectory matters IMO.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I actually thought the opposite.

If they were going to go with Leonhard, I think it would have made more sense to ride out the season with Chryst and then announce Leonhard is taking over when the season ended. That would have the least impact on recruiting and I think (IMO) it would feel like a more natural progression.

Moving on mid-season feels like they are searching for someone who isn't in-house. I think if you're going to make a move and hire someone new, you'd want to start that search as early as possible.
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I take it as they are thinking it might be Leonhard but they aren't 100% sold on him. So here's his chance to see what he can do first before investing in a guy that has never been a head coach before. Now he'll get his chance. If it doesn't go well, they look elsewhere.

If they're going to look outside for someone, I feel like keeping Chryst through the regular season would have made more sense.

I live in Madison and I can tell you some people are pissed that he was fired mid-season (or even at all in some cases).
 

Losing to a Fleck team two of the last four years (and barely beating a pandemic decimated roster in 2020) was bad enough for them. Getting ass kicked by a Bielema coached team that recruits the same territory must have been the last straw.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I actually thought the opposite.

If they were going to go with Leonhard, I think it would have made more sense to ride out the season with Chryst and then announce Leonhard is taking over when the season ended. That would have the least impact on recruiting and I think (IMO) it would feel like a more natural progression.

Moving on mid-season feels like they are searching for someone who isn't in-house. I think if you're going to make a move and hire someone new, you'd want to start that search as early as possible.
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GophersInIowa said:
I take it as they are thinking it might be Leonhard but they aren't 100% sold on him. So here's his chance to see what he can do first before investing in a guy that has never been a head coach before. Now he'll get his chance. If it doesn't go well, they look elsewhere.

If they're going to look outside for someone, I feel like keeping Chryst through the regular season would have made more sense.

I live in Madison and I can tell you some people are pissed that he was fired mid-season (or even at all in some cases).
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The interim position may be nothing more than red tape and politics. I'm speculating that a major university like WI has procedures in place that need to be followed when hiring one of highest paid positions in the state. I don't know if the athletic director has the ability to make a permanent hire right on the spot.
 

Talked to a few Badger fans that I work with and they are not happy about this move at all.

As a Gopher fan I gotta say that as much as Saturday sucked for us on the field the sting is definitely lessened a little by seeing both Iowa and Wisconsin get beat and now having Bucky in a bit of chaos with a coaching change :)
 

Gophers1992 said:
I see a lot of posts talking about whether the new hire will be as successful as Chryst, or match his win %, etc. That's a little misleading as Chryst was on a clear downward trajectory. He had some great seasons from 2015-2017 that are boosting his numbers, but there's nothing in that program that suggests Chryst was going to return them to those levels. You could argue he should get a chance to ride out some down years, but trajectory matters IMO.
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Sure, trajectory matters and maybe part of this was just due to Chryst in particular (he does seem like kind of a nonentity) but I hope that we wouldn't fire Fleck after a four year period of 9-4, 4-3 (in a virtually meaningless short season), 8-5, and 10-4 with a 3-1 bowl record in those four seasons. Chryst's 2022 recruiting class wasn't so great but his 2021 class was very highly rated by 247 (#16 with one 5 star and 5 four stars). Wisconsin certainly could have done worse even over this four year period.
 

Panthadad2 said:
The interim position may be nothing more than red tape and politics. I'm speculating that a major university like WI has procedures in place that need to be followed when hiring one of highest paid positions in the state. I don't know if the athletic director has the ability to make a permanent hire right on the spot.
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There is usually a time period where the job has to be "available" before a new hire can be made. How long that is I don't know.

The risk of going the interim route and then hiring that person for the job is that if the team continues to struggle under the future coach you put them behind the eight ball a bit right at the start of their tenure.

Will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
 

I think likely Leonard has been told he’ll get an interview there if he wants it but they will likely interview others outside the program as well and pick the one they feel is the best. The remainder of the season is a chance for Leonard to pad his resume some.

Edit: I probably botched the spelling on his name and see it spelled two different ways in the same article from the spun too lol.
 
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I'm not sure this will make any difference. Wisconsin is who they are almost no matter what. They were the first to unlock the code to winning with less than top recruits.

Minnesota is following their same path, so is Illinois and Iowa has done it for year. It's culture, toughness, being able to run the ball, getting kids to buy in, playing SMART rock solid defense.

Flat out, you will NEVER unseat Ohio State in this conference, unless you are Michigan. You just cannot get the recruits they do. Your coach can only do so much.
 

Dave Aranda was part of the Andersen regime but is highly regarded and Baylor won 12 games last year. Candidate?
Bielema returning to Wisconsin, hmmm.
Leonhard, call me cynical. An Alvarez program walk-on, great playing career. Short tenure as DBs then DC. As someone that doesn’t follow Wisconsin closely is he seen as a great recruiter, strategic mind? Is the main selling point he’s linked at the hip to the Alvarez era?
Leipold has a great track record at smaller schools, and Kansas is not embarrassing this year. Somewhat older coach at 58 but still some tread on the tire. Wisconsin kid. Does he want to go back? He might have eyes on bigger prizes.

A day later this still looks bad for Wisconsin. Upsetting to the football Gods.
 

cjbfbp said:
Whether they would be upgrades or not remains to be seen.

Doeren has an overall record of 68-50 and 34-41 in conference over 9 years + 5 games at NC State. He's never won more than 9 games there and has a 3-3 record in bowls. It's a decent record but probably one that may have gotten him fired at Wisconsin by now if the same standards applying to Chryst were applied to him. Doeren also coaches in North Carolina, an easier place to recruit athletes than the upper midwest. Under these circumstances, going to Wisconsin could be a dicey choice for him.

Leipold is more interesting. On the surface he looks like he could be a football coaching version of Bo Ryan with tremendous success for years at a Wisconsin D3 school. His overall record at Buffalo was only slightly above .500 but that's pretty good for a MAC team over 6 years. As far as Kansas, it's too early to call him a savior at that program. He's off to a 5-0 start (which looks fantastic compared to their recent history) but the record there is very short. Since he's a Wisconsin native, he may jump at the job.

Maybe Wisconsin will just go with Leonard. He at least has the NFL background.
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Leipold could be Bo Ryan...or he could be Scott Frost. I remember when everyone on this board thought Frost was a lock to be the "Prodigal Son" returning home to save his alma mater after killing it at UCF.

I am not saying Leipold wouldn't be a good hire, but people seem to have short memories about how easy it is tfor the "sure fire lock" to flame out. Hell some thought Chryst was going to be a better coach than he was...

edit: I see you said just that in a later post! (not so) Great minds! :)
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
I actually thought the opposite.

If they were going to go with Leonhard, I think it would have made more sense to ride out the season with Chryst and then announce Leonhard is taking over when the season ended. That would have the least impact on recruiting and I think (IMO) it would feel like a more natural progression.

Moving on mid-season feels like they are searching for someone who isn't in-house. I think if you're going to make a move and hire someone new, you'd want to start that search as early as possible.
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Then Leonhard is gone...he is not going to go from DC to Interim Head Coach back to DC just cause he loves the school. They did this as a try out...because if they hired him in the offseason and he flamed out badly they are stuck with him for at least 3 years and likely paying him for 5. He is an unknown quantity as a head coach.
 


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