Chris Petersen (born October 13, 1964) is an American college football coach, currently the head coach of the Boise State Broncos. Petersen played quarterback at UC Davis from 1983-86. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1988 and a master's degree in education from UC Davis.
Petersen grew up in Yuba City, California.
Petersen began his coaching career in 1987 as the head freshman coach at UC Davis under College Football 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, and moved over to the University of Oregon in 1995 as the receivers coach. In 2001, he became the offensive coordinator at Boise State.
Petersen was named as the head coach at Boise State on December 16, 2005, succeeding Dan 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 from 2001-2005 and was twice nominated for the Broyles Award, given to the nation's best assistant coach.
In his first year as head coach for Boise State, 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-A 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."
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.
