Iowa Hawkeyes Coach Moves to NFL
The Iowa Hawkeyes coaching staff has undergone a shake-up. Keller Chryst, who served as an offensive analyst for Iowa, has been hired by the Seattle Seahawks, as reported by 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz.
Chryst spent the last two seasons working alongside offensive coordinator Tim Lester, helping to rejuvenate the Hawkeyes’ offense. However, the opportunity to make the leap to the NFL proved irresistible, and Chryst will now join head coach Mike Macdonald’s staff in Seattle for his first NFL coaching role.
Although Chryst and Macdonald have never worked together before, Chryst comes from a football-rich background. His father, Geep, is an NFL coach and current scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars; his uncle, Paul, was the head coach at Wisconsin; and his brother, Jackson, is a quarterback at Oregon State.
As a player, Chryst was a quarterback at Stanford from 2014-2017 before finishing his college career as a grad transfer at Tennessee in 2018. He entered coaching as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin under his uncle Paul Chryst in 2021.
Now, Chryst will work with veteran quarterback Sam Darnold in Seattle while helping to develop third-round pick Jalen Milroe. His exact role within the Seahawks coaching staff is still unclear, but the team already has Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator and Andrew Janacko as quarterbacks coach. Notably, the Seahawks do not have a designated passing game coordinator.
Meanwhile, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has strengthened his offensive staff by hiring Warren Ruggiero, who spent the last decade as Wake Forest’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. While transfer quarterback Mark Gronowski loses one experienced coach, he still has support from Ruggiero and the rest of the staff.
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