MADISON, Wis. – Without an extended period of spring practices to run, Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst has had a lot of time on his hands the past three months. He and his staff have still conducted meetings virtually, but Chryst has spent plenty of time watching film, participating in virtual recruiting visits and spending time with his grown children while stuck in quarantine.
Probably his most important task of late, however, is listening and talking to his players about racial inequality and the public demonstrations that have engulfed the country in the wake of several killings of African Americans by various police departments.
“I love having the opportunity to talk to all our players about this,” Chryst said Friday. “I’m really appreciative of the openness and the willingness of all of us to try to learn, try to get informed. I think we all want to do more than just that. We want to be able to impact and make a difference in our own way. A lot of our conversations have talked about starting inside and working out. What does each and every one of us need to do, having an honest self-reflection and affecting those around us.”
While the players and coaches have yet to meet in person, Chryst said the topic of race has come up in virtual team meetings, as well as in smaller groups and some one-on-one meetings. It’s a dialogue that Chryst said he has had with his players for several years but one that has taken on a more prominent position with the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks, to name a few.
“Having been in the locker rooms, the team rooms that I’ve been in for over 30 years, 35 years, you’ve been able to have a lot of meaningful conversations,” Chryst said. “The conversations are good because you gain an understanding, and each time it’s a different person, a different voice, you can get a different perspective.
“Doesn’t matter what their background is, everyone’s experience is different, and therefore their view may be different. I think that what’s empowering is that everyone’s voice really matters, especially in the confines we’re talking about, in our locker room, in our staff room, in our team room.”
Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the street when he was killed in late May by a Minneapolis police officer, who kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. In the weeks that followed, massive protests (peaceful and not) have popped up all over the country, the Big Ten created a conference Anti-Hate, Anti-Racism coalition (senior cornerback Madison Cone is one of four UW representatives on the panel) and the UW athletic department began an internal review of how the University can play a bigger role in finding a solution to racism.
“The first thing that we did was we listened,” Wisconsin deputy athletic director Chris McIntosh said Thursday. “We listened what was happening in the community, we listened to our student-athletes, both current and former, and we realized that it wasn’t enough for us to be passive. Coach (Barry) Alvarez made a pledge that we would be very active in being a part of the solution. I couldn’t be more proud of our student-athletes in taking a lead in this, and that’s not surprising. That’s something we’re about here.”
One thing circulating on social media is UW student-athletes asking the school to allow a university crest with a black ‘W’ to be worn on athletes’ uniforms this season, accompanied by a picture of what the image could look like. Chryst said he’s in support of the idea.
“I think anytime that you get something coming from all of your student-athletes, there is no question that this is important,” he said. “It’s important to us all. I personally love it when it comes from the student-athletes. It’s powerful.”
Social media has been an important tool for players to share their thoughts and opinions with their followers over the last several weeks. UW defensive backs Cone, Donte Burton, Faion Hicks and Semar Melvin have all posted statements or retweeted powerful sentiments or imagery to push the narrative forward.
While Chryst doesn’t have a social media policy, he said he talks with players about ensuring they’re comfortable with the message they are putting out on social media.
“We’ve had discussions previously (about) are you choosing (your platform) or are other people wanting you to use your platform to do it," Chryst said. "I’ve seen a lot of guys work through that and fight that internal struggle that others know you have a more visible platform than they may have, so you need to say and do something because you have that platform. Not all guys are ready. We’re all on different timelines.
“Faion and Madison are doing it on what’s really a current topic. I think that’s part of college, right? You go to college and there’s a lot of things going on, a lot of really good things going on. Part of it is getting exposed to different things and then kind of formulating your beliefs. Then it’s how do you express your beliefs, and how do you do that in a way that fits you and a way that represents you the way you want to be represented.
“I think that’s part of the growth, and to me, that’s a big part of this. For our program, nothing matters more than our players and it’s our players’ growth — growth as football players, certainly, but growth as students, growth as people. And to see them growing and to see them finding ways to feel comfortable with what their beliefs are and how to express those beliefs, I think those are some of the really good things that we get to be around coaching young men at this point in their life.”
