Geep Chryst


George Patrick "Geep" Chryst is an American football coach. Chryst has 24 years of NFL coaching experience, including nine seasons coaching the tight end position. Before joining the Broncos, Chryst worked as San Francisco's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He also has previous NFL experience with Carolina, Arizona, San Diego and Chicago.

Early years

Chryst played football and baseball at Princeton University. Chryst earned his bachelor's degree in history from Princeton. He then went on to receive his master's degree in educational administration from Wisconsin.

Coaching career

College

Chryst first became a coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 1987. While there, he also helped at the Chicago Bears training camp. In 1988, he was a coach with the Wisconsin Badgers before spending the next two years as the quarterbacks and offensive line coach of the Wyoming Cowboys. His professional coaching debut came as wide receivers/running backs coach for the Orlando Thunder of the World League in 1991.

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 and quarterbacks. In between Chryst's time in Arizona, he worked two seasons with the Chargers as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Chryst helped implement the no-huddle offense in San Diego in 1999.
After two seasons away from the NFL, Chryst returned in 2006 with the Carolina Panthers 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 in addition to competing 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. At the end of the 2015 season, the 49ers ended up 31st in total yards and 32nd in points offensively. As a result of the poor offensive output, Chryst was fired after his first season as offensive coordinator.
On January 30, 2017, Chryst was hired as tight ends coach for the Denver Broncos. The Broncos did not renew Chryst's contract following the 2018 season.

Personal life

Chryst is the brother of Wisconsin Badgers head football coach Paul Chryst and former Mid-American Conference commissioner Rick Chryst. Their father, George, 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, is quarterback at the University of Tennessee. His younger son, Jackson Chryst is currently playing football as a quarterback at Oregon State University. He also has a daughter, Gillian Chryst, who currently resides in Texas.