“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
