Chryst among 46 applicants for Wisconsin job

MADISON, Wis. (AP) Newly hired Wisconsin football coach Paul Chryst had more competition for the job than thought.

Not that most of the 45 other applicants who sought to succeed Gary Andersen ever had a serious shot. The university on Monday released all applications received for the job, fulfilling an open records request filed by The Associated Press.

Chryst, the Pittsburgh coach the past three years, was hired Wednesday under a five-year contract worth $2.3 million in the first year. His hiring came one week after Andersen abruptly quit to coach Oregon State.

As previously known, current Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda was among the serious candidates who applied. He was one of four people Alvarez interviewed.

Records show other applications came from former Army coach Richard Ellerson, Colorado State defensive line coach Greg Lupfer and former Arizona State defensive end Tranell Morant.

Coaches from various high schools and colleges also made their cases.

When athletic director Barry Alvarez introduced Chryst as coach last week, he said, ''I interviewed or was contacted by a number of well-known head coaches as well as high-ranking assistant football coaches about this job.''

He probably wasn't referring to Jarrad Dann of Chandler, Arizona.

Dann, who listed his current job title as ''The Man, The Myth, The Legend,'' said in his application he was qualified to lead a Big Ten college football team because he is ''ridiculously good'' at the NCAA football game for Xbox 360.

Arturo Bonomie of Madison said his years coaching kindergarten and first-graders for the YMCA football program made him the ideal candidate.

''People tell me I can give one heck of a good pep talk on the sidelines and my wife makes a mean Gatorade,'' he wrote in his cover letter.

Greg Miller, who said he was unemployed and living with his parents in Racine, listed among his football experience the video games Madden '92, Bill Walsh '93 and NCAA Football '96 and '97.

''I have further successfully coached from my sofa every Saturday since 1987,'' he wrote in a letter to Alvarez.

Chryst is a Madison native, former Badger quarterback and assistant coach. He was an early favorite for the job in the hours after Andersen's surprise departure Dec. 10. According to records, Chryst submitted his application on Dec. 12. That is the day after Alvarez spoke with him about the job in Florida, where Alvarez was attending an Outback Bowl promotion and Chryst was recruiting.

Chryst sent a letter Dec. 15 asking that his application be held ''in confidence'' unless he was considered a finalist for the job. Two days later, Alvarez introduced him as the Badgers' coach.

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