Paul Chryst started his career as a graduate assistant at West Virginia, and was then an assistant coach for the World League's San Antonio Riders, UW–Platteville, Ottawa Rough Riders, Illinois State, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Oregon State. He was the tight ends coach for the NFL's San Diego Chargers from 1999–01, where he was instrumental in the development of Freddie Jones into one of the NFL's top tight ends, as well as coaching Steve Heiden, who eventually started with the Cleveland Browns. Chryst was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oregon State in 2003–04. The Beavers ranked 10th nationally in total offense and 6th nationally in passing yardage per game in 2003. The 2003 Beavers became the first team in NCAA Division I history with a 4,000-yard passer, 1,500-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers. Among the Oregon State stars he coached were RB Ken Simonton, the school's career rushing leader, QB Derek Anderson, who left as the Pac-10’s No. 2 career passing leader, and RB Steven Jackson, a 2004 first-round draft choice for the St. Louis Rams. After a one-year stint as the Badgers’ tight ends coach in 2002, Chryst returned to Wisconsin in 2005 and under his direction, the Wisconsin offense showed immediate and drastic improvement. The 2005 team set school records for both scoring average and for points scored in a season. UW scored at least 40 points six times in 2005. After ending the 2005 season with a 10–3 record, the 2006 offense was again potent under Chryst, and helped the team to a strong 12–1 finish. Chryst's strong offenses helped guide Wisconsin to back-to-back Rose Bowl appearances in 2010 and 2011. Chryst was a 2011 finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top college football assistant coach.
University of Pittsburgh
Chryst was hired as the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh on December 22, 2011. Chryst had a record of 19–19 before being offered the head coaching position at Wisconsin. He won the Little Caesar's Bowl during the 2013 season.
University of Wisconsin
On December 17, 2014 Chryst was introduced as the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin following the departure of Gary Andersen. In Chryst's first season the Badgers went 10–3 and finished 1st nationally in scoring defense and 2nd in total defense. All three losses came to teams that were in the AP top 25 at the end of the season, eventual national champions #1 Alabama, #9 Iowa and #23 Northwestern. Chryst also won the Holiday Bowl against USC, whom the Badgers had a 0-6 record against before the game, with their last meeting being the 1963 Rose Bowl. In the Badgers debut game of the 2016 season the unranked Badgers upset #5 ranked LSU at Lambeau Field. Chryst was named the "Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week" for his efforts. Following the opening week of college football when the new AP Poll was released the Badgers were ranked #10, the highest the Badgers had been ranked since the 2011 season where Chryst was the offensive coordinator for the Russell Wilson led Wisconsin team. On November 29, 2016, Chryst was named the Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year in the Big Ten Conference. Despite the Badgers going 12-1 in 2017, Wisconsin was held out of the College Football Playoff. However, they beat Miami in the 2018 Orange Bowl.
