Chris Petersen
Chris Petersen went 147–38 as a head coach, 2006–2019, at Boise State and Washington. Share
- Record
- 147–38 career
- Seasons
- 14
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 5 seasons
- Born
- Oct 13, 1964
- Alma mater
- UC Davis 1988
- Hall of Fame
- 2026 inducted
- Best season
- 2009 14–0, No. 4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Boise State | 13–0 | 1st | Fiesta Bowl W | 5 | |
| 2007 | Boise State | 10–3 | 2nd | Hawai’i Bowl L | ||
| 2008 | Boise State | 12–1 | 1st | Poinsettia Bowl L | 11 | |
| 2009 | Boise State | 14–0 | 1st | Fiesta Bowl W | 4 | |
| 2010 | Boise State | 12–1 | T–1st | Maaco Bowl Las Vegas W | 9 | |
| 2011 | Boise State | 12–1 | 2nd | Maaco Bowl Las Vegas W | 8 | |
| 2012 | Boise State | 11–2 | T–1st | Maaco Bowl Las Vegas W | 18 | |
| 2013 | Boise State | 8–4 | 2nd (Mountain) | Hawaii (not coached) | ||
| 2014 | Washington | 8–6 | 3rd (North) | Cactus Bowl L | ||
| 2015 | Washington | 7–6 | 4th (North) | Heart of Dallas Bowl W | ||
| 2016 | Washington | 12–2 | 1st (North) | Peach Bowl L | 4 | |
| 2017 | Washington | 10–3 | T–1st (North) | Fiesta Bowl L | 16 | |
| 2018 | Washington | 10–4 | T–1st (North) | Rose Bowl L | 13 | |
| 2019 | Washington | 8–5 | T–2nd (North) | Las Vegas Bowl W |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Kellen Moore
Ryan Clady
Hau’oli Kikaha
Budda Baker
Dante Pettis
John Ross
Shaq Thompson
Kyle Wilson
Doug Martin
Shea McClellin
Kaleb McGary
Vita Vea
- Nate PotterConsensus All‑American, 2011
- Marcus PetersNo. 18 pick, 2015
- Danny SheltonNo. 12 pick, 2015
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 39 | 20–19 | 51% |
| Against top-10 teams | 13 | 6–7 | 46% |
| Against rivals | 33 | 27–6 | 82% |
| Conference games | 117 | 91–26 | 78% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 13 | 7–6 | 54% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 49 | 24–25 | 49% |
| At home | 91 | 79–12 | 87% |
| On the road | 76 | 57–19 | 75% |
| At neutral sites | 18 | 11–7 | 61% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 163 | 138–25 | 85% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 22 | 9–13 | 41% |
His own 185 games on file, 2006–2019, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Whittingham 2006–2019 | 6–2 | Utah | 8 | |
| Chris Ault 2006–2012 | 6–1 | Nevada | 7 | |
| Pat Hill 2006–2011 | 6–0 | Fresno State | 6 | |
| Mike Leach 2014–2019 | 6–0 | Washington State | 6 | |
| David Shaw 2014–2019 | 2–4 | Stanford | 6 | |
| Gary Andersen 2009–2017 | 5–0 | Utah State, Oregon State | 5 | |
| Mike MacIntyre 2010–2018 | 5–0 | San José State, Colorado | 5 | |
| Todd Graham 2009–2017 | 2–3 | Tulsa, Arizona State | 5 | |
| Dick Tomey 2006–2009 | 4–0 | San José State | 4 | |
| Robb Akey 2007–2010 | 4–0 | Idaho | 4 |
Chris Petersen’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Fresno Stateseries | 9 | 8–1 |
| Oregon Stateseries | 8 | 8–0 |
| Hawai’iseries | 8 | 7–1 |
| Nevadaseries | 8 | 7–1 |
| Utahseries | 8 | 6–2 |
| Oregonseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Utah Stateseries | 7 | 7–0 |
| Idahoseries | 6 | 6–0 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 2010 Boise State: Bobby Dodd Award
- 2009 Boise State: Bear Bryant Award
- 2006 Boise State: Bear Bryant Award
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–88 | UC Davis | Freshman coach | |
| 1989–91 | UC Davis | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1992 | Pittsburgh | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1993–94 | Portland State | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1995–2000 | Oregon | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2001–05 | Boise State | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2006–13 | Boise State | Head coach | |
| 2014–19 | Washington | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Bob FosterUC Davis
- Paul HackettPittsburgh
- Sal SunseriPittsburgh
- Tim WalshPortland State
- Mike BellottiOregon
- Dan HawkinsBoise State
Assistants who became head coaches
- Bryan HarsinArkansas State, Boise State, Auburn
- Jeff ChoateNevada, Montana State
- Justin WilcoxCalifornia
- Sean KuglerUTEP
- Bob GregoryBoise State, Washington
- Andy AvalosBoise State
- Jimmy LakeWashington
- Jonathan SmithOregon State, Michigan State
- Kirby MooreWashington State
- Jeff TedfordCalifornia, Fresno State, BC Lions
Worked under (6)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Foster | UC Davis | 1989–91 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Paul Hackett | Pittsburgh | 1992 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Sal Sunseri | Pittsburgh | 1992 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Tim Walsh | Portland State | 1993–94 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Mike Bellotti | Oregon | 1995–2000 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Dan Hawkins | Boise State | 2001–05 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (10)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Harsin | Boise State, 2006–10: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Arkansas State, Boise State, Auburn | |
| Jeff Choate | Boise State, 2006–08: running backs and special teams coach; 2009–11: linebackers and special teams coach; Washington, 2014–15: defensive line and special teams coach | Nevada, Montana State | |
| Justin Wilcox | Boise State, 2006–09: defensive coordinator | California | |
| Sean Kugler | Boise State, 2006: assistant head coach and offensive line coach | UTEP | |
| Bob Gregory | Boise State, 2010–13: linebackers coach; Washington, 2014–15: linebackers coach; 2016–19: linebackers and special teams coach | Boise State, Washington | |
| Andy Avalos | Boise State, 2012–13: defensive line coach | Boise State | |
| Jimmy Lake | Boise State, 2012–13: defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator; Washington, 2014–15: defensive backs coach; 2016–17: co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; 2018–19: defensive coordinator | Washington | |
| Jonathan Smith | Boise State, 2012–13: quarterbacks coach; Washington, 2014–17: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Oregon State, Michigan State | |
| Kirby Moore | Washington, 2015–16: graduate assistant | Washington State | |
| Jeff Tedford | Washington, 2016: offensive consultant | California, Fresno State, BC Lions |
Other assistants under him (9)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Pease | Boise State, 2006: wide receivers coach; 2007–10: assistant head coach and wide receivers coach; 2011: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Washington, 2014–15: wide receivers coach | |
| Pete Kwiatkowski | Boise State, 2006–09: defensive line coach; 2010–13: defensive coordinator; Washington, 2014–17: defensive coordinator; 2018–19: co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach | |
| Robert Prince | Boise State, 2011: wide receivers coach; 2012–13: offensive coordinator | |
| Joel Filani | Boise State, 2013: graduate assistant | |
| Bush Hamdan | Washington, 2015: offensive quality control coach; 2016: wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator; 2018–19: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Ikaika Malloe | Washington, 2016–19: defensive line coach | |
| Kane Ioane | Washington, 2017–18: defensive analyst | |
| Matt Lubick | Washington, 2017–18: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Junior Adams | Washington, 2019: wide receivers coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Washington | head coachbonuses up to $1,050,000; $675,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $30,671,875 | $4,127,500 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Washington | head coachbonuses up to $1,175,000; $150,000 in bonuses paid | $3,605,847 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Washington | head coachbonuses up to $1,175,000; $200,000 in bonuses paid | $3,402,940 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Washington | head coachbonuses up to $1,175,000 | $3,681,720 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Petersen’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 39% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 47% of plays and took 25.6 seconds a play, 2006–2019.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 12 g | Boise State | 21 of 77 27% | 59% | 38% | 27.8 | +0.08 | |
| 2007 13 g | Boise State | 24 of 92 26% | 45% | 49% | 25.0 | +0.12 | |
| 2008 13 g | Boise State | 14 of 87 16% | 35% | 51% | 24.1 | +0.01 | |
| 2009 14 g | Boise State | 23 of 103 22% | 34% | 48% | 27.0 | +0.07 | |
| 2010 13 g | Boise State | 16 of 71 23% | 44% | 47% | 26.0 | +0.18 | |
| 2011 13 g | Boise State | 24 of 78 31% | 43% | 50% | 25.9 | +0.12 | |
| 2012 13 g | Boise State | 22 of 91 24% | 37% | 46% | 25.5 | +0.01 | |
| 2013 13 g | Boise State | 22 of 93 24% | 38% | 46% | 19.7 | +0.12 | |
| 2014 14 g | Washington | 22 of 116 19% | 33% | 43% | 23.1 | +0.02 | |
| 2015 13 g | Washington | 19 of 97 20% | 32% | 49% | 26.2 | −0.01 | |
| 2016 14 g | Washington | 9 of 83 11% | 24% | 47% | 27.4 | +0.15 | |
| 2017 13 g | Washington | 12 of 79 15% | 22% | 45% | 26.3 | +0.13 | |
| 2018 14 g | Washington | 21 of 96 22% | 37% | 45% | 27.6 | +0.08 | |
| 2019 13 g | Washington | 32 of 101 32% | 64% | 50% | 26.2 | +0.04 | |
| All 185 g | 281 of 1264 22% | 39% | 47% | 25.6 | +0.08 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.