George Patrick "Geep" Chryst (born June 25, 1962) is an American football coach and scout. He is currently a pro scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL).[1] Previously he served as the tight ends coach and offensive coordinator for the California Golden Bears. Chryst has 25 years of NFL coaching experience, working as an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach. In 13 of the 25 seasons coaching in the NFL his offense ranked in the Top Ten in either Rushing, Passing or Points Scored.[2]
When in San Francisco from 2011-2014 he coached Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick. The 49ers won 54 games in that span and both quarterbacks set career records for passer rating in 2012 when Kaepernick took over for Smith Week 11 in a MNF win over the Bears. Neither QB had enough throws to qualify for the league rating title but Smith (104.3 rating) would have finished 3rd and Kaepernick (98.3 rating) would have been 7th. No NFL team has had two quarterbacks finish in the Top 10 the same season.
Chryst worked as San Francisco's offensive coordinator in 2015 when Blaine Gabbert replaced Kaepernick Week 9. Kaepernick had played well in games early but struggled in losses to division foes Arizona, Seattle and St. Louis. Gabbert went on that year to lead the NFL in Red Zone Passing (120.5).
He also has NFL experience with Denver (2017-18) Carolina (2006–10), Arizona (2001–03, 1996–98), San Diego (1999-2000) and Chicago (1991-95).
Chryst is credited with developing the original Draft Value Chart in 1993. Chicago Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt had replaced Mike Ditka and wanted a chart that would mimic the philosophy that Jimmy Johnson was implementing in Dallas, where Wannstedt was his defensive coordinator. The chart was used on draft day by a handful of teams who kept it hidden from others to create value for the trading of draft picks. Wannstedt shared the chart back to Johnson, but others made copies and it worked its way throughout the league.
In addition to his coaching and quality control duties Chryst has specialized in football analytics. He was involved in a Silicon Valley startup as a founder of Game Analytics, Inc. and has consulted both college and NFL teams on Game Management.
After 25 years of coaching in the NFL, Chryst joined the California Golden Bears football staff in 2021 as tight ends coach. The team finished the season winning four of the last fives games and against rival Stanford set a Big Game record with 636 yards of total offense in the 41–11 win. Under his training, Jake Tonges, a former walk-on, had a career year in 2021 and made the Chicago Bears 53-man roster in 2022. In 2022, Chryst was named the offensive coordinator & play caller for the last two games of the year. The Golden Bears beat Stanford to keep the Stanford Axe and nearly upset 17th ranked UCLA the following week. In the UCLA game, Cal quarterback Jack Plummer threw for four TD passes and completed 14 consecutive throws.
NFL
Chryst began his NFL coaching career with the Chicago Bears in 1991, working for five seasons as the team's director of research/quality control. In the spring of 1992, Chryst took a 15-day hiatus from the Bears to long snap in three playoff games for the Orlando Thunder. Chryst then worked two different three-year stints with Arizona, coaching tight ends (1996–97) and quarterbacks (1998, 2001–03). In between Chryst's time in Arizona, he worked two seasons with the Chargers (1999-00) as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Chryst helped implement the no-huddle offense in San Diego in 1999.
Chryst joined the Carolina Panthers in 2006 and spent five seasons as the tight ends coach and offensive quality control coach alongside Mike McCoy. Chryst left the Panthers after the 2010 season to become the quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. He was eventually promoted to offensive coordinator prior to the 2015 season, under head coach Jim Tomsula. During Chryst's five seasons in San Francisco, the 49ers advanced to three consecutive NFC Championship Games (2011–13) and lost in Super Bowl XLVII. Chryst helped San Francisco's passing offense rank among the most efficient units in the NFL from 2011–14 while working with QBs Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick.[5]
Hub Football
Chryst worked for Hub Football, run by player agent Don Yee. Chryst started with the company at its inception in 2019. Hub offers camps for football players looking to sign with a professional team.
Chryst is the brother of former Wisconsin Badgers head football coach Paul Chryst and former Mid-American Conference commissioner Rick Chryst. Their father, George Chryst, was an assistant at Wisconsin and then became the head coach and athletic director at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. His oldest son, Keller Chryst, played quarterback at the University of Tennessee. Prior to Tennessee he went 11-2 as a starter at quarterback for Stanford University (2014–17). His .846 winning percentage is the highest all-time for Stanford quarterbacks with a minimum of 10 starts. His younger son Jackson Chryst also plays QB, being named High School Player of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle in 2018. Jackson attended Oregon State, where he was on the Beavers 2019 and 2020 teams, before transferring in 2021 to play quarterback at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.
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