Paul Chryst has been let go

During his eighth season in Madison leading the Badgers, Paul Chryst has been let go. 

Adam Rittenberg was first to share the news, and FootballScoop can confirm.

The school has since announced the decision.

The decision to part ways with Chryst comes after Bret Bielema's return to Camp Randall Stadium, where the Illini beat the Badgers to the tune of 34-10 and allowed Wisconsin to run for just two yards.

The loss dropped Chryst and Wisconsin to 2-3 on the year.

Chryst had led the Badgers to a 67-26 overall record, with an impressive 43-18 mark in Big Ten play and three Big Ten titles. He had led the program to double-digit wins four times since taking over in 2015, and was coming off a 9-win season in 2021. Outside of winning 72% of his games, Chryst also led the team to seven bowl trips and six bowl wins.

At this time last year, Chryst had just received a big raise from Wisconsin administration, and now is due a north of $19 million, per his contract.

Athletic director Chris McIntosh shared that during their meeting Sunday that the school and Chryst agreed to a negotiated buyout, and exact terms of that would be revealed at a later date.

Before taking over the Badgers, Chryst spent two seasons at Pitt, where he went 7-6 and then 6-6.

The team will be led by defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard as the interim head coach, and he's been a candidate for FBS head coaching openings the last few seasons and will get an honest look for the full-time job.

Leonhard will have an extended and intriguing tryout for the permanent job with 7 regular season games left on the schedule, with none of them currently ranked.

The other name that is going to come up almost immediately for this opening is Lance Leipold, who has Kansas ranked after a 5-0 start to the season. Leipold previously led Wisconsin-Whitewater (D-III) to six national titles from 2007-14. He also spent a few seasons as a graduate assistant on the Badgers staff under Barry Alvarez.

We'll have more on candidates and what Wisconsin may be looking for in their new head coach soon.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.