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Wisconsin

Nick Herbig sends emotional message to Paul Chryst following firing

On3 imageby:Dan Morrison•10/03/22•

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In a relatively surprising move, Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst the Sunday following the team’s loss to Illinois. It was a difficult and emotional decision, following a good tenure in Madison. For players like Nick Herbig, the move was a complete shock.

Nick Herbig took to Twitter to post an emotional message for his fired coach.

“Still at a loss 4 words but one thing I do know is we playing this season for you Coach!! Love you beyond measures,” Nick Herbig tweeted.

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Paul Chryst was fired from Wisconsin after more than seven seasons as the team’s head coach. During that time, he had a 67-26 record, won two New Years Six bowl games, and won the Big Ten West three times. He had previously been an offensive position coach and offensive coordinator at the school. Before that, he was a quarterback at Wisconsin in the 1980s. Chryst is a Madison, Wisconsin native.

For his part, Nick Herbig is a four-star recruit in the Class of 2020 from the same high school in Hawaii that produced Tua Tagovailoa. He has been one of the team’s best defensive players over the past two seasons.

Wisconsin is 2-3 on the season. The Badgers’ next game is on October 8th, against Northwestern.

The candidates to replace Paul Chryst

Whenever a coach is fired, everyone jumps to make a list of candidates to replace them. However, college football analyst Greg McElroy doesn’t think the list should be very long to replace Paul Chryst, listing two possible candidates.

They are Lance Leipold and Jim Leonhard. Leipold, the current Kansas head coach, is a Wisconsin native who initially found success at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Leonhard, for his part, has been the Wisconsin defensive coordinator since 2017.

“I think the interim coach has an awful lot to do with this decision. Jim Leonhard now gets a seven-game sample size for Barry Alvarez and all the decision makers that be associated with the Wisconsin program. …Option No. 2, Lance Leipold, is currently 5-0 at Kansas. He of course won six national championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater,” Greg McElroy said.