What Chryst thought of lone season with UT
NASHVILLE – Keller Chryst had high hopes for how his lone season at Tennessee would go. It didn’t turn out that way, but he said he doesn’t regret joining the Vols as a graduate transfer after four seasons with Stanford.
“You have all these dreams of playing every single game, starting and all that stuff,” the Vols backup quarterback said after Saturday’s season-ending 38-13 loss to Vanderbilt during his first interview while at UT. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. It’s God’s will, and it worked out for the best.”
Chryst appeared in 23 games at Stanford and posted an 11-2 record as a starting quarterback – though much of the credit for that success should be shared with the Cardinal's defense and running backs Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love.
Chryst lost his starting job to K.J. Costello last November.
Costello returned to Stanford this season, and Chryst followed Tyson Helton from the PAC-12 to the SEC.
UT coach Jeremy Pruitt tapped Helton to be his offensive coordinator after Helton had been the quarterbacks coach at Southern California, where he got an inperson look at Chryst.
“Having him recognize me as a possible grad transfer from our relationship – pseudo relationship – from when he was at USC and I was at Stanford, it was really just a great opportunity,” Chryst said, “and we made the most of it.”
Chryst described his decision to come to UT as “what I felt was best in my heart at the time.”
He became Tennessee’s backup after Jarrett Guarantano won the preseason position battle. Guarantano had started six games as a freshman, and he started every game this season.
Chryst appeared in eight games, including extended playing time against Alabama and Missouri after Guarantano exited with first-half injuries.
Chryst finished the season having completed 23-of-51 passes (45.1 percent) for 450 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Two of his TD passes came against Alabama, when he threw for 109 yards in his best relief performance.
“That’s part of being a backup quarterback. You’ve kind of got to be thrown in the fire every now and then,” Chryst said. “You rely on your experience, and you just have to have confidence in whatever you do.”
Playing for a team that finished 5-7 was a new experience for Chryst. During his four years at Stanford, the Cardinal went 39-15 and made a bowl game each season.
“It was different, to be honest with you, but it also challenged me as a person, as a man,” Chryst said, “and it really forced me to maybe be someone, whatever the team needed at the time, even if I wasn’t playing, help lead the team anyway. I felt like I put everything out there, every single practice, every single lift, every single meeting. I laid it on the line for my teammates. I respect them, and hopefully they respect me as well.”
His teammates held Chryst in high regard, Pruitt said after last week’s loss to Missouri.
“Keller is a hard worker,” Pruitt said then. “He’s been great for our program. Our kids love him; he’s a good leader.”
Chryst praised Guarantano, who was inconsistent but had peak performances in wins over Auburn and Kentucky. He showed improvement compared to his freshman season.
Guarantano finished the year with a 62.2 percent completion rate. He threw for 1,907 yards with 12 touchdowns and three interceptions.
“We have a really good relationship. I hope that I was able to pass some wisdom on to him one way or another,” Chryst said. “I was really proud of him the way he was able to fight time and time again throughout every single game. He’s really grown as a quarterback, even from just seeing the first game all the way to the last. He’s a fighter, and he’s only going to continue to get better.”
With Chryst departing, UT is set to return three quarterbacks. Guarantano will be a junior.
Will McBride and JT Shrout each redshirted this year, preserving their status as a sophomore and freshman, respectively. Shrout finished the year as the team’s third-string quarterback, but neither he nor McBride appeared in a game.
Brian Maurer, a three-star prospect from Ocala, Fla., is verbally committed to sign with the team’s 2019 class.
“(Guarantano and Shrout) are really talented players, and they’re only going to continue to grow,” Chryst said. “Still very young, both of them are. With guidance and continued growth and experience, they’re only going to get better.”