Richard Chryst is a former college football commissioner who now works in the private sector with Dietz Sports and Entertainment.

College and early career

Chryst played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

from 1979 to 1983. In 1982, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate ...

with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thous ...

. He earned a BA in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

in 1983. In 1983, Chryst was hired as the assistant sports information director at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...

. He then attended Duke University, where he earned a Juris Doctor from

Duke University School of Law Duke University School of Law (Duke Law School or Duke Law) is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit ...

in 1989. Later that year, Chryst worked in the administration of the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

until it dissolved in 1996. He then became the assistant commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Mid-American Conference

On May 11, 1999, Chryst replaced

Jerry Ippoliti Jerry Ippoliti (born ) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the Northern Illinois University from 1971 until 1975, compiling a record of 25–29–1. Ippoliti was ...

as commissioner of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). As commissioner, Chryst grew the conference's presence by signing a TV contract with

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

to air MAC football games nationally and moving the football championship game to

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state champ ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, and the basketball tournament to

Quicken Loans Arena Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is a multi-purpose arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The building is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL). It also serv ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

. During his time as MAC Commissioner, Chryst was also chair of the Division I commissioners and president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association. Chryst announced in January 2009 that he would leave the conference upon completion of his contract on June 30, 2009. His tenure made him the conference's third longest serving commissioner.

Personal

He is the brother of the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Di ...

head coach

Paul Chryst Paul Joseph Chryst (born November 17, 1965) is a former American football head coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. Chryst was the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 2012 to ...

and position coach

Geep Chryst George Patrick "Geep" Chryst (born June 25, 1962) is an American football coach & scout, currently a Pro Scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Previously he served as the tight ends coach and offensive coordinator for the California Golden Bears. ...

. Their father, George, was an assistant at Wisconsin and then became the head coach and athletic director at the

University of Wisconsin-Platteville A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Cotuit Kettleers players Mid-American Conference commissioners Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Duke University School of Law alumni {{US-sport-bio-stub