Chris Petersen

Chris Petersen (born October 13, 1964) is an American football coach, currently the head coach at Boise State University, a position he has held since the 2006 season. Petersen has guided the Broncos to two BCS bowl wins, in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and the 2010 Fiesta Bowl. He is the first and only two-time winner of the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, which he won in 2006 and 2009. He also won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award in 2010.

Playing career and education
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.

Assistant coach
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. 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. Peterson 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 2001, he became the offensive coordinator at Boise State under first-year head coach Dan Hawkins.

Head coach
Petersen was promoted to head coach at Boise State on December 16, 2005, succeeding Hawkins, who left for Colorado. 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 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
On February 22, 2007, the Idaho State Board of Education approved a new contract for Petersen, paying him $4.25 million for five years, or $850,000 per year. Petersen’s salary will be paid mostly by revenue from the Football Coaches Club, the Bronco Athletic Association booster club and media and public appearances. State-appropriated funds will cover $150,000 per year.

On January 1, 2010, after leading Boise State to another undefeated regular season, Petersen was rewarded with a new five-year contract extension, with other terms of the contract to be announced later. On April 22, 2010, the State Board of Education approved the new contract, which would pay Petersen $8 million over the course of the five-year deal, 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 newest contract, awaiting final approval by the State Board of Education in February 2012, was agreed to on January 3 of that year. The five-year deal calls for Petersen to receive a base salary of $2 million for the 2012 season, with $200,000 raises in each subsequent season. Assuming he remains at Boise State at the end of the relevant seasons, Petersen will receive retention bonuses of $100,000 after two years and $200,000 in each of the final three years of the deal.

Personal life
Petersen and his wife, Barbara, are the parents of two sons, Jack and Sam. His father, Ron Petersen, still lives in Yuba City.

Honors

 * Inducted into the Cal Aggie Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997
 * Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2006 and 2009
 * Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2008
 * Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award in 2010