Meet a Candidate: Chris Petersen

A full rundown of the candidates can be found here.

Now here is my take on Boise State’s Chris Petersen.

Chirs Petersen

2006-present Boise St (Head Coach:35-3)
2001-2005 Boise St (Offensive Coordinator)
1995-2000 Oregon (Wide Receivers)
1993-1994 Portland St (Quarterbacks)
1992 Pittsburgh (Quarterbacks)

Who is he?: Petersen has been one of the most successful coaches in D1 since he took over the Boise State program from Dan Hawkins. He has compiled a 35-3 record in three years, including two undefeated seasons. He was responsible for the Broncos exciting victory over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, and has Boise State in the running for another possible BCS berth.

What does he bring to the job?: Incomparable success. He by far has the best record of any of the other candidates with previous head coaching experience. He is a budding coaching star who will be getting many offers in the future if he doesn’t take a BCS job this year.

Petersen runs an extremely successful offense that would more than likely be a hit on  the Carrier Dome turf. Here are the total offensive ranks of Petersen’s teams since becoming Boise’s offensive coordinator in 2001:

2001: 14th

2002: 1st

2003: 7th

2004: 4th

2005: t-29th

2006: 10th

2007: 12th

2008: 12th

Needless to say, it is hard to imagine a situation in which Petersen couldn’t get the Orange offense into the top of the Big East rankings.

Why wouldn’t he be a good fit?: The only knock I can see against Petersen would be his lack of Northeastern recruiting ties. He has spent his entire coaching career out West and would need to develop a local recruiting base quickly to find success.

What are his chances?: Unfortunately, not as good as I’d like. While money isn’t likely a problem for the Orange (Petersen will only make $1,112,650 next year), competition will be. Petersen is going to be mentioned for every job opening, including Washington, Mississippi State, Auburn and even Texas Tech should Mike Leach cash in on his teams run this year. Not only that, but why would Petersen decide to leave what looks like a great situation in Boise for Syracuse? One potential reason could be the salaries of his assistants:

“If things stopped progressing at Boise State, that’s probably the biggest thing,” he said. “If we weren’t able to keep the assistants’ salaries up and we decided that we’re good where we are facilities wise, then things change a little bit. But the administration has been so good about that. That’s what keeps everybody excited about being here.”

If Boise balks at Petersen’s requests for himself or his staff, here’s hoping Dr. Gross will open up the checkbook and make a run at him. But in all likelihood, I don’t think it will happen.