KNOXVILLE – Tennessee’s quarterback competition received a new entrant Thursday night when Stanford graduate transfer Keller Chryst indicated on Twitter he will use his final season of collegiate eligibility with the Volunteers.
Chryst, who was 11-2 as a starter in 2016 and 2017 at Stanford, is expected to graduate in June and would join Tennessee in time for preseason practices.
The 6-foot-5, 234-pounder – who finished his high school career in Palo Alto, Calif., where Stanford is – has the pedigree, experience and intangibles to compete for the starting job in new Vols offensive coordinator Tyson Helton’s pro-style scheme.
To win the job, he will have to beat out Jarrett Guarantano and Will McBride, who are entering their sophomore seasons and will have the benefit of going through spring practices with Helton and first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt beginning this month. A fourth quarterback, December signee J.T. Shrout, would become part of the mix after his expected enrollment this summer.
Competition is nothing new for Chryst, the son of veteran NFL assistant Geep Chryst and nephew of Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst.