Christopher Scott Petersen (born October 13, 1964) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who was most recently the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. Previously the head coach for eight seasons at

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

, Petersen guided the Broncos to two BCS bowl wins: the (2006 Season)

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and (2009 Season) 2010 Fiesta Bowls. He is the first two-time winner of the

Paul "Bear" Bryant Award The American Heart Association (AHA) Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards are an annual awards banquet that is hosted each year in January, in Houston, Texas, by the AHA.For a list of American Heart Association offices, by state, go to: There are two awar ...

, which he won in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. Petersen also won the

Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award is an annual college football award given to the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision head coach whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. The award is named for Bobby Dodd, l ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. At Washington, Petersen led the Huskies to the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

in 2016, but fell to

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

in the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

. Petersen announced his resignation on December 2, 2019, to be effective after the team's bowl game.

Early life

Born and raised in

Yuba City, California Yuba City (Maidu: ''Yubu'') is a city in Northern California and the county seat of Sutter County, California, United States. The population was 70,117 at the 2020 census. Yuba City is the principal city of the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical ...

, Petersen played

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

and

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the Honkers at

Yuba City High School Yuba City High School is a public secondary school in Yuba City, California. It had roughly 3,000 students before River Valley High School opened in 2005. The school colors are brown and gold. Its mascot is the "Honker", a nickname for Canada ...

. After graduation in 1983, he played quarterback for the

Sacramento City College Sacramento City College (SCC) is a public community college in Sacramento, California. SCC is part of the Los Rios Community College District and had an enrollment of 25,307 in 2009. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community ...

Panthers for two seasons, then transferred to non-

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

, then in Division II. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

in 1988 and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in education from

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Petersen began his coaching career in 1987 as the head freshman coach at

under

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach

Jim Sochor Jim Sochor (February 11, 1938 – November 23, 2015) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of California, Davis from 1970 to 1988 during which time comp ...

. In 1989, he became the receivers coach for the varsity, departing in 1992 to become the quarterbacks coach at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. While at Pittsburgh, he coached QB

Alex Van Pelt Gregory Alexander Van Pelt (born May 1, 1970) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the ...

to a season where he threw for over 3,100 yards with twenty touchdowns. He moved back west in 1993 to coach the quarterbacks at

Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

under Tim Walsh; the Vikings advanced to the Division II playoffs in both

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. Petersen moved over to

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

as the receivers coach, and spent six years as an assistant for the

Ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

under head coach Mike Bellotti. In

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, WR Cristin McLeMore topped 1,000 yards receiving. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, WR Pat Johnson topped 1,000 yards. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, WRs Damon Griffin and Tony Hartley both topped 1,000 yards on the year. In January

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, Petersen was hired as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

by newly-promoted head coach The offense peaked in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, scoring a school-best 602 points en route to a 13-1 season: QB

Ryan Dinwiddie Ryan Dinwiddie (born November 27, 1980) is the head coach of the Toronto Argonauts and is a former professional Canadian football quarterback. After playing college football, he went undrafted and signed with the Chicago Bears, however he was cut ...

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 Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

after the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

season, and Petersen was promoted to head coach on 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, Petersen led the Broncos to an undefeated regular season in

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

season. The Broncos defeated Big 12 champion

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

as only the second BCS non-AQ conference school to play in a BCS bowl, after

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. Petersen drew particular attention for his bold play calling after the Broncos, who were leading most of the game, trailed the Sooners by a touchdown late in the contest. A 50-yard hook-and-lateral play on 4th-and-18 described as "stunning" tied the game with seven seconds left. An option pass (off a direct snap to a wide receiver) on 4th-and-2 on Boise State’s possession in overtime pulled the Broncos within one point after Oklahoma scored on their possession. Petersen then decided to forgo an extra point kick and go for the victory with a two-point conversion attempt, calling a successful "

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

" misdirection play for a 43-42 win. 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 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 After leading Boise State to another undefeated regular season in

, 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 Petersen's last contract in Boise was agreed to on January 3, 2012. The five-year, $18 million deal called for a base salary of $2 million for the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

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

Washington

On December 6, 2013, Petersen agreed to a five-year, $18 million contract to become the new head coach at

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. He replaced

Steve Sarkisian Stephen Sarkisian (born March 8, 1974)Stephens, Ken. – "QB GENEALOGY – Steve Sarkisian is latest in long line of talented BYU quarterbacks". – FUN FACT, Sarkisian’s father is actually Texas Tech Head Coach, Joey McGuire. ''Dallas Mo ...

, who announced that he was leaving Washington to take the same position at

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

three days after the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Apple Cup. In Petersen's first season in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Washington went 8–6 and lost in the

Cactus Bowl The Guaranteed Rate Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989. Played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then ...

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

. During the season, Petersen became the quickest active FBS coach to reach 100 wins, achieving the mark in just 117 games as a head coach. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, a young Huskies team finished 7–6, including an upset at

against Sarkisian. Washington defeated

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

in the

Heart of Dallas Bowl The First Responder Bowl is an NCAA post-season college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas, Texas, area. The bowl was first held on January 1, 2011, and since 2014 has been contested in late December. The bowl was held at the Cott ...

. Petersen signed a two-year contract extension near the end of the 2015 season. The 2016 Huskies had one of the best seasons in Washington history, winning the

Pac-12 championship The Pac-12 Football Championship Game is an annual college football game held by the Pac-12 Conference to determine the season's conference champion. The game from the 2011–2021 seasons had the champion of the North Division against the champi ...

and earning a berth to the program's first-ever

. In the

Pac-12 Championship The Pac-12 Football Championship Game is an annual college football game held by the Pac-12 Conference to determine the season's conference champion. The game from the 2011–2021 seasons had the champion of the North Division against the champi ...

, No. 4 Washington defeated No. 9

41–10 at

Levi's Stadium Levi's Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, just outside San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home venue for the National Football League (NFL)'s San Francisco 49ers since 2014. T ...

. On December 31, 2016, Alabama beat Washington 24–7 in the

, ending the Huskies' season. After the season, Petersen's contract was extended through 2023 with an average salary of $4.875 million per year. This new contract made Petersen the highest paid coach in the Pac-12 at the time. Washington posted back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since 1990–91 after going 10–3 in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. The Huskies played in a New Year's Six bowl, losing to

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

in the

. Petersen led the Huskies to another Pac-12 title in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. UW defeated

10–3 in the title game to clinch a berth in the Rose Bowl against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. During the season, Washington beat No. 7

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

in the Apple Cup, marking the Huskies' sixth straight rivalry win over the Cougars under Petersen. After losing numerous key starters to the NFL Draft, the 2019 Huskies regressed from previous seasons, finishing the regular season 7–5. Petersen and the Huskies did win their seventh straight Apple Cup in 2019, beating

, 31–13. On December 2, Petersen announced he would step down as Washington's head coach at the end of the season and assume a leadership advisory role with the athletics program. In his final game as coach, Washington beat his former team,

, in the Las Vegas Bowl, 38–7.

Personal life

Petersen and his wife, Barbara, have two sons, Jack and Sam.Thankful for love and faith in Boise, and the angel that pushed
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

in 2006 and 2009 *

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

Coach of the Year in 2008 *

in 2010

Head coaching record

* Petersen resigned before bowl game

References

External links

Washington profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Chris 1964 births Living people American football quarterbacks Boise State Broncos football coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Portland State Vikings football coaches UC Davis Aggies football coaches UC Davis Aggies football players Washington Huskies football coaches Sacramento City Panthers football players Sportspeople from Greater Sacramento People from Yuba City, California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from California