Cold War

December 6th, 2013 at 8:30 AM ^

Should have gone when he was a hotter property and could have had a better job.

So long, Fraud State. Nice knowing you and your bogus claims of elite status.

1464

December 6th, 2013 at 9:32 AM ^

...or the Big12 ...or the ACC.  I'm making my "Section 1" stand here against people who are badmouthing the Big10.  Statistically, both the ACC and Big12 are worse conferences this year, and the SEC is only marginally better.  The PAC12 is a lot better, though.

Tater

December 6th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^

BSU played one or two legitimate teams a year and 10-11 tomato cans.  Petersen is a very good coach, but he has to prove that he can get these kind of results against legitimate, elite competition on a regular basis.  I think this move makes sense for both sides and both sides could benefit.  

ijohnb

December 6th, 2013 at 9:10 AM ^

have to say that Washington is a pretty good job.  Awesome part of the country, tremendous potential and a history of semi-recent success without the expectations of other top level jobs.  Now that that program has returned to being a high level Pac 12 team I think a lot of coaches would eat that job up if offered.

Rage

December 6th, 2013 at 10:20 AM ^

 

I've always been a big fan of Peterson and have secretly wished he'd come to Michigan for several years now.  I'm also sad to see him leave Boise St. though.  I loved what he did with that program and he seems like he is a man of character.  It was refreshing to see someone with that kind of success, buck the trend of greed and cut-throat ambition in college football.

Decatur Jack

December 6th, 2013 at 9:16 AM ^

Great hire for Washington.

This blows my mind. He turns down SEC jobs, Penn State, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, but says yes to Washington? Unreal.

Regardless, he is a great coach and Huskie fans should be thrilled. I'm always happy to see Washington get a leg up on Leach and Washington State, so good for them.

MI Expat NY

December 6th, 2013 at 9:40 AM ^

Yeah, he just doesn't seem like your typical coach where ambitions to be at the best schools with the most money is the driving force in his decision.  

Washington makes sense for a guy like Chris Petersen.  He's not stepping into a huge pressure cooker in a part of the country he doesn't know.  Rather, he's upgrading to a football school in the same region of the country where he'll be utilizing the recruiting connections he's built up for his entire coaching career.  I very much see the draw.  

gwkrlghl

December 6th, 2013 at 10:18 AM ^

Might be because he sees that his stock and Boise State's stock is falling. They've fallen off the national radar ever since Kellen Moore graduated and I think before Petersen might've thought he had a good thing going, but now if he sees the Boise State ship sinking, he might be thinking it's time to get out of Dodge while he still can. This might be the end of Boise's run of national significance

The FannMan

December 6th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^

I am not familar with BSU recruiting, but it seems to me that it may be important to him to stay in the Norhtwest if that is where his best recuiting ties are.  It might be easier for him to pull in recruits at UW that at an SEC school.  USC might just be a little bit toxic give the damage done by Kiffin and not keeping Orgeron (and Orgeron's decision to quit rather than coach the bowl).

Admittedly, this is kind of pulled out of the air since I just can't tolerate watching BSU on that damn blue field.

fatbastard

December 6th, 2013 at 10:53 AM ^

It's a great job for him.  He'll come in as a rock star.  He'll be paid extremely well.   The cost of living there is much much better than at USC.  The expectations are reasonable.  The fan base won't be calling for his head after 2 1/2 years.  He will have an opportunity to create a long-term legacy there if he chooses to do it, much like Don James did. 

The FannMan

December 6th, 2013 at 1:32 PM ^

Agree with all you say.  

I just thought that it might also be a smart move for him as my hypothesis was that he will closer to his recruting base than going to SEC or even USC. Howeva, looking at his BSU's roster, I counted 37 kids from Cali, against  29 from Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana combined.  So, yeah, I'm wrong.

kalamazoo

December 6th, 2013 at 5:52 PM ^

He's still close to his recruting base, relative to an SEC job.

Regardless of recruiting, he also knows the northwest region really well. He must hear stories of friends that travel all over the northwest for fishing, hiking, family, and he has probably vacationed, traveled, and visited a bunch of areas as well.

So when a recruit in every-day-speak says he's going to visit his Grandma for Christmas in Gleed, just up the road from Yakima on the "12", Peterson would probably already know where this is, approximately, and share immediately commonality with the kid, talking about how he's heard the fishing is good around there, etc. Hit the ground running without having to learn everything anew culturally and geographically.

I agree with other posters that this is also a lower stress opportunity for a solid team in a high-end conference. He will have the opportunity to grow the program to his liking without as many angry fans making noise (a la USC).

I'm really surprised he left, but perhaps the best opportunity for his personality type and past experience.

jimmyshi03

December 6th, 2013 at 2:07 PM ^

Living in Southern California, I know that Boise's taken some smaller school kids from here, perhaps for depth, perhaps hoping to develop with a redshirt year. They just took a kid from the local high school as a preferred walk-on at kicker.

FrankMurphy

December 6th, 2013 at 11:53 AM ^

Petersen seems like the kind of guy who would prioritize a better fit over a bigger name. From a family perspective, going from Boise to Los Angeles would have been a much more dramatic shift than going from Boise to Seattle. This actually seems like the ideal situation for him.

Gob Wilson

December 6th, 2013 at 11:55 AM ^

Good move for Petersen and a great hire for UW. He knows the area for recruiting and he has a child in need of medical care available at UW's and Seattle's medical centers. I think this may have been a motivating factor. Seattle will welcome Petersen.

Jonesy

December 6th, 2013 at 2:30 PM ^

Maybe he didn't want to come into a program that was falling apart.  Washington didnt just fire it's coach for incompetence or lose him after sanctions and scandal.  Their coach left to take a better job but left the program in a great place.  I'd much rather inherit Washington's current program than what Rich Rod left or the PSU situation or the Lane Kiffin mess, etc..

MGoBrewMom

December 6th, 2013 at 9:55 AM ^

For staying where he wanted to be, and taking the job he wanted. Clearly he has a value system that he is following, and it likely doesn't resemble yours, and doesn't appear to be all about prestige or making the most money.

Not that its not a great job. It absolutely is. It is not an iconic program, but that place is beautiful, and has a great football atmosphere.

I love the Pac10, and its awesome that Sarkesian, Mora, RichRod, Peterson, ((dude from ASU??)) are all there. Gonna be fun to watch!

MH20

December 6th, 2013 at 10:18 AM ^

He's the ASU coach.

Until this year he seemed kind of toolish (bailing on programs [Rice & Pitt] in consecutive years will get you that rep), but going 10-2 does pretty well to squash those kinds of sentiments.  Also it does seem like he genuinely wants to be and stay in Tempe.

gwkrlghl

December 6th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^

Fraud State isnt an appropriate name. They actually have been wilded successful for a mid-major for over a decade with several different head coaches. I don't think you can call them Elite elite (like top 5 quality) but no doubt they had an incredible run of top 15ish teams for a small school in Idaho. Good football in Idaho!

You have to give their program some respect

BlueTimesTwo

December 6th, 2013 at 11:54 AM ^

Maybe I am biased because I live in Boise, but I don't understand all of the hatred for BSU.  They are a team comprised largely of two-star and three-star players (according to rivals they have had two four-star recruits sign with them in the last DECADE), and yet they have largely been able to hold their own when given the chance to play against quality BCS opponents.  Nobody is arguing that the Mountain West schedule is like playing in the SEC (or even the B1G), but it is hard to argue that they have not put together some quality teams over the last decade.

It seems that many Michigan fans grudgingly respect Dantonio for "coaching up" his players and overachieving, but hate on BSU for having been very successful with one-tenth of the talent that Dantonio has to work with.  I don't get it.

Oscar

December 6th, 2013 at 1:05 PM ^

"It seems that many Michigan fans grudgingly respect Dantonio for "coaching up" his players and overachieving, but hate on BSU for having been very successful with one-tenth of the talent that Dantonio has to work with.  I don't get it."

Who are these "many" that you are refer to?  I think few would be a better adjective.

Rage

December 6th, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^

I have nothing but respect for Peterson and his program.  I watched them beat OK St., Oregon, push Georgia aroung in their own house, and man handle VT.  Those are things that for some mysterious reason, Michigan woudn't have done in the last decade.

I don't see how anyone could not respect what they've done.

FrankMurphy

December 6th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^

You realize he's like 9-3 against schools from BCS conferences, right? He beat Oklahoma, Oregon, Georgia, and Virginia Tech, among others. Nobody wanted to play Boise, to the extent that they had to agree to one-off road games just to fill out their nonconference schedule. Dude is legitimately one of the top five coaches in college football.

FrankMurphy

December 6th, 2013 at 2:14 PM ^

It was in decent shape when he took over, but Petersen took it to the next level. Dan Hawkins' record at Boise was good, but he never had an undefeated season, he never had a signature win against a school from a BCS conference, and he never played in a BCS bowl (granted, it was harder for non-AQ schools to qualify for BCS bowls back then). Petersen did all three multiple times. He's the one who proved that Boise is capable of playing with the big boys.

FrankMurphy

December 6th, 2013 at 6:11 PM ^

The key differentiator is that Chris Petersen regularly beat good teams from AQ conferences. His 9-3 record includes wins over an 11-win Oklahoma team, a 10-win Georgia team, a 10-win Oregon State team, an 11-win Virginia Tech team, and two 10-win Oregon teams. Petersen is the reason no one wanted to play Boise State. Dan Hawkins went 2-8 against AQ teams. And the fact that Petersen was Hawkins' offensive coordinator and Hawkins failed miserably after he and Petersen parted ways probably indicates that Petersen had a lot to do with Boise's success under Hawkins.

Leaders And Best

December 6th, 2013 at 8:42 AM ^

It's possible USC passed on Petersen because he may not be a good fit there. Or vice versa. Petersen supposedly is not great with media and boosters, and a public job like USC may not fit him. There's also this:

9h

It'll be interesting to see what happens with Petersen & . In interview w his vision didn't mesh with how Pat Haden wants things run