Chris Petersen

Early life

Born and raised in Yuba City, California, Petersen played safety and quarterback for the Honkers at Yuba City High School. After graduation in 1983, he played quarterback for the Sacramento City College Panthers for two seasons, then transferred to non-scholarship UC Davis, then in Division II. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1988 and a master's degree in education from UC Davis.

Early coaching career

Petersen began his coaching career in 1987 as the head freshman coach at UC Davis under Hall of Fame coach Jim Sochor. In 1989, he became the receivers coach for the varsity, departing in 1992 to become the quarterbacks coach at Pittsburgh. While at Pittsburgh, he coached QB Alex Van Pelt to a season where he threw for over 3,100 yards with 20 TD.

He moved back west in 1993 to coach the quarterbacks at Portland State under Tim Walsh; the Vikings advanced to the Division II playoffs in both 1993 and 1994. Petersen moved over to Oregon in 1995 as the receivers coach, and spent six years as an assistant for the Ducks under head coach Mike Bellotti. In 1996, WR Cristin McLeMore topped 1,000 yards receiving. In 1997, WR Pat Johnson topped 1,000 yards. In 1998, WRs Damon Griffin and Tony Hartley both topped 1,000 yards on the year.

In 2001, he was hired as the offensive coordinator at Boise State by newly promoted head coach Dan Hawkins. The offense peaked in 2003, scoring a school-best 602 points en route to a 13-1 season: QB Ryan Dinwiddie threw for 4,356 yards and 31 TD, RB David Mikell ran for 1,142 yards and 13 TD, and WR Tim Gilligan had 1,192 yards and 6 TD.

Boise State

Hawkins left Boise State for Colorado after the 2005 season, and Petersen was promoted to head coach on December 16. Sophomore tailback Ian Johnson said about the transition, "We trusted him and knew he was going to take care of us. We knew he was a great person. He was going to recruit people just like himself. We waited for him to get everybody here and he got in the perfect people." Petersen had served as offensive coordinator at Boise State for five seasons and was twice nominated for the Broyles Award, given to the nation's best assistant coach.

2007 Fiesta Bowl

In his first year as head coach in 2006, Petersen led the Broncos to an undefeated regular season and the program's first ever BCS bowl game berth. He became the fourth rookie head coach to lead a team to a BCS bowl game. Boise State was the only undefeated team in Division I FBS for the 2006 season.

The Broncos defeated Big 12 champion Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl as only the second non-BCS conference school to play in a BCS bowl, after Utah in 2004. In the 43–42 overtime win, Petersen drew particular attention for his bold play calling at the end of the game: A 50-yard hook-and-lateral play on 4th-and-18 described as "stunning" for a tying touchdown with just 7 seconds left in regulation, an option pass (off a direct snap to a wide receiver) on 4th-and-2 in overtime, and a "Statue of Liberty" misdirection play for the two-point conversion to win the game in overtime. Petersen stated, "We were trying to get to it earlier, to tell you the truth. We needed a play like that to get it over with."

Improved contracts

After the undefeated season of 2006, the Idaho State Board of Education approved a new contract for Petersen on February 22, 2007, paying him $4.25 million for five years, or $850,000 per year. Petersen’s salary was paid mostly by revenue from the Football Coaches Club, the Bronco Athletic Association booster club, and media and public appearances. State-appropriated funds covered $150,000 per year.

After leading Boise State to another undefeated regular season in 2009, Petersen was rewarded with a new five-year contract extension on January 1, 2010. The state board of education approved the new contract on April 22, which paid $8 million over five years, or $1.6 million per year. The contract also included automatic one-year extensions to the contract each time Petersen won at least eight regular season games.

Petersen's last contract in Boise was agreed to on January 3, 2012. The five-year deal called for a base salary of $2 million for the 2012 season, with $200,000 raises in each subsequent season. It also included retention bonuses of $100,000 after two years and $200,000 in each of the final three years of the deal.

Washington

On December 6, 2013, Petersen agreed to a five-year, $18 million contract to become the new head coach at Washington. He replaced Steve Sarkisian, who announced that he was leaving Washington to take the same position at USC three days after the 2013 Apple Cup.

Petersen signed a two-year contract extension near the end of the 2015 season.

Following a Pac-12 championship and College Football Playoff appearance in 2016, Petersen's contract was extended through 2023 with an average salary of $4.875 million per year. This new contract makes Petersen the highest paid coach in the Pac-12.

Personal life

Petersen and his wife, Barbara, are the parents of two sons, Jack and Sam. His father, Ron Petersen, a Seattle native who grew up watching University of Washington football games on television as a boy, still lives in Yuba City.

Honors

Coaching tree

Assistant coaches under Chris Petersen who became NCAA head coaches: