After the ACC landed 11 teams in bowl games this season, it appeared that the league was likely to return all of its head coaches for the first time since 2005. As it turns out, that won’t be the case.
According to multiple reports, Pitt coach Paul Chryst is expected to be named the next head coach at Wisconsin on Wednesday. The 49-year-old will replace Gary Andersen, who left the Badgers a week ago for the same position at Oregon State.
Chryst’s departure leaves the Panthers with their fourth coaching search since the end of the 2010 season. During his time in Pittsburgh, Chryst posted a 19-19 record overall with a 7-9 mark in the ACC and 3-4 record in the Big East.
While Pitt never won more than seven games in a season under Chryst, the former Wisconsin quarterback kept the program afloat through adversity. Although over half a dozen players from their 2011 recruiting class transferred, the Panthers found young stars in players such as running back James Conner and wide receiver Tyler Boyd. The team reached bowl games in each of Chryst’s three seasons, and the coach left the program much more stable than when he found it.
The school is expected to name an interim coach for the Armed Forces Bowl on Jan. 2. There, Pitt will face Houston, which fired Tony Levine on Dec. 8 and named David Gibbs as its interim head coach for the bowl game.