Two years into his tenure at Wisconsin, head coach Paul Chryst has taken the Badgers to the Big Ten championship game and within striking distance of the College Football Playoff.
On Tuesday, he was honored for a remarkable 2016 season whose final chapters have not yet been written.
Big Ten coaches named Chryst the 2016 Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year. The award is named after two iconic conference coaches: Ohio State’s Woody Hayes and Michigan’s Bo Schembechler.
Wisconsin (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) faced its toughest schedule in recent memory, but Chryst has guided his alma mater to the Big Ten West division title, within one game of the conference championship and the doorstep of the College Football Playoff.
From the media, Penn State’s James Franklin earned the Dave McClain Coach of the Year, named after the former Wisconsin head coach who led the program from 1978-85 but tragically passed away in April 1986.
Wisconsin and Penn State (10-2, 8-1) face off in Indianapolis in the Big Ten championship game on Saturday.
Paul Chryst of @BadgerFootball named the 2016 #B1GFootball Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year. pic.twitter.com/OMcPXSvufb
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) November 29, 2016