Ex-49ers Offensive Coordinator Geep Chryst Named Cal Tight Ends Coach

Marques Tuiasosopo's replacement was Broncos tight end coach when Bill Musgrave was Denver's offensive coordinator

George Patrick "Geep" Chryst, who was the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator in 2015 and the Denver Broncos tight ends coach in 2017 and 2018, was named Cal's new tight ends coach, Bears head coach Justin Wilcox announced Monday night.

"I'm thrilled to be part of Justin Wilcox's staff at Cal," Chryst said in a release provided by Cal. "With many of the challenges of the 2020 COVID season hopefully behind us, I look forward to representing this great university. I know the great football tradition of the Golden Bears."

Chryst replaces Marques Tuiasosopo, who left Cal to become the offensive coordinator at Rice.

Chryst has been out of coaching the past two seasons, and most of his coaching experience has come in the pros, with his most recent 25 seasons of coaching being spent with NFL teams.

"Geep is a highly respected football coach who has experienced success at the highest level of our game," Wilcox said in the release. "He has a strong understanding of what we are doing on offense, and he will do a great job of coaching and developing our tight ends to maximize their potential. We are pleased that we were able to attract Geep to our program."

Chryst has been an offensive coordinator for two NFL teams, holding that position with the San Diego Chargers in 1999 and 2000 and landing that job with the 49ers in 2015.  He was also the 49ers' quarterbacks coach from 2011 through 2014, and the 49ers got to the Super Bowl in the 2012 season and to the NFC championship game in the 2011 and 2013 seasons. The 2012 season featured somewhat of a quarterbacks controversy involving Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick, with Kaepernick ending up being the 49ers starting quarterback at the end of the 2012 season and the Super Bowl. Kaepernick (98.3) had his career-best passer rating in 2012, and Smith (104.1) had the second-best passer rating of his career that same season..

When Chryst was the 49ers' offensive coordinator in 2015, San Francisco went 5-11 and Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert shared the starting quarterback position. The 49ers finished 31st among the 32 NFL teams in total offense that season.

Chryst's NFL experience should play well with offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who installed a pro-style offense at Cal this past season.

Musgrave and Chryst worked together on the Broncos staff in 2017 and 2018, when Musgrave was the Broncos' offensive coordinator and Chryst was Denver's tight ends coach.

This will be Chryst's first coaching stint in college since 1990, when he was the quarterbacks coach at Wyoming.

Chryst is the brother of Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst and the father of Keller Chryst, who was 11-2 as the starting quarterback at Stanford before transferring to Tennessee. Geep Chryst is also the father of Jackson Chryst, a reserve quarterback at Oregon State.

Wilcox has one more hire to make. He needs to find a defensive backs coach to replace Marcel Yates, who left to become the defensive backs coach at Oregon.

Here is a video of a long but interesting interview with Chryst conducted by Ted Robinson last month:

Chryst gives some in-game advice to Colin Kaepernick in 2015, when Chryst was the 49ers' offensive coordinator:

Click here for a video of Chryst coaching tight ends for the Carolina Panthers.

Cal's spring football practice begins Wednesday.

Chryst's Coaching History

Season: Team (League) – Coaching Position (Postseason)

1987: Wisconsin-Platteville (Division III) – Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers

1988: Wisconsin (Division I FBS) – Offensive Graduate Assistant

1989: Wyoming (Division I FBS) – Offensive Line

1990: Wyoming (Division I FBS) – Quarterbacks (Copper Bowl)

1991: Orlando Thunder (WLAF) – Wide Receivers/Running Backs

1991: Chicago Bears (NFL) – Director of Research/Quality Control (NFC Playoffs Wild Card)

1992: Chicago Bears (NFL) – Director of Research/Quality Control

1993: Chicago Bears (NFL) – Director of Research/Quality Control

1994: Chicago Bears (NFL) – Director of Research/Quality Control (NFC Playoffs Divisional Round)

1995: Chicago Bears (NFL) – Director of Research/Quality Control

1996: Arizona Cardinals (NFL) – Tight Ends

1997: Arizona Cardinals (NFL) – Quarterbacks

1998: Arizona Cardinals (NFL) – Quarterbacks

1999: San Diego Chargers (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks

2000: San Diego Chargers (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks

2001: Arizona Cardinals (NFL) – Quarterbacks

2002: Arizona Cardinals (NFL) – Quarterbacks

2003: Arizona Cardinals (NFL) – Quarterbacks

2006: Carolina Panthers (NFL) – Tight Ends

2007: Carolina Panthers (NFL) – Tight Ends/Offensive Quality Control

2008: Carolina Panthers (NFL) – Tight Ends/Offensive Quality Control (NFC South Champions, 2008 NFC Divisional Round)

2009: Carolina Panthers (NFL) – Tight Ends/Offensive Quality Control

2010: Carolina Panthers (NFL) – Tight Ends/Offensive Quality Control

2011: San Francisco 49ers (NFL) – Quarterbacks (NFC Championship Game)

2012: San Francisco 49ers (NFL) – Quarterbacks (NFC West Champions, Super Bowl)

2013: San Francisco 49ers (NFL) – Quarterbacks (NFC West Champions, NFC Championship Game)

2014: San Francisco 49ers (NFL) – Quarterbacks

2015: San Francisco 49ers (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator

2017: Denver Broncos (NFL) – Tight Ends

2018: Denver Broncos (NFL) – Tight Ends