There’s no place like Boise for coach Chris Petersen, who will remain with the Broncos | Boise State Eyepiece | Idaho Statesman
Boise State can’t match the money, history and conference connections of the top college football programs.
Fortunately for the Broncos, those places can’t match what matters most to football coach Chris Petersen — the livability of Boise.
Petersen announced Monday that he will return to Boise State for a sixth season as head coach and 11th season overall. He had a telephone conversation with Stanford about its head coach opening — a call that satisfied Petersen’s curiosity — but nothing more, he said.
Petersen is 61-5 with two Fiesta Bowl titles. He’s the first coach since World War II to win 90 percent of his games in his first five seasons.
“It’s more about Boise State being a great place that we really love,” Petersen said. “We’ve said this many times that this is a tough job. I know it seems like all fun and games at all times, but we go through this 24/7, year-round. We’re just trying to figure out how to like our lives a little bit while doing the job that we do.
“… I can’t think of a better place out there than this place right here.”
Petersen has been a hot commodity since his first year as the offensive coordinator at Boise State, in 2001. He rarely has even flirted with the frequent opportunities that have come his way.
Stanford, which will finish in the Top 5 and lost coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, at least caught Petersen’s attention. Petersen grew up in Northern California (Yuba City).
“That’s a very unique, special place — there’s no question,” Petersen said of Stanford. “I thought it would be something to have a conversation about.
“… There are a couple places out there that I think are intriguing that you don’t really know about from not being there. Sometimes it’s important to have a conversation and hear some things.”
Petersen talked to athletic director Gene Bleymaier about the future of the Boise State program before making Monday’s announcement. No specific concessions were announced — Petersen’s five-year contract remains intact — but Petersen wanted to be reassured that his boss had the same priorities.
The No. 1 to-do item is building the new football office complex that is envisioned as part of the Bronco Stadium expansion in the north end zone. Fund raising for the project is ongoing.
“We definitely want to get that going,” Bleymaier said.
One reason that Petersen remains happy at Boise State is the commitment Bleymaier has made to the assistant coaches, whose pay is competitive with the Pac-10.
That has allowed him to fill each of the past four holes in his staff with former Boise State assistants with impressive resumes. That continued Monday, with the announcement that Brent Pease would return as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach and Robert Prince as wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator.
“Those are the things that make it very attractive for me to be here,” Petersen said, “when we can attract the best guys in the country.”
PEASE: QUICK U-TURN
Pease accepted the offensive coordinator job at Indiana on Dec. 30.
Eleven days later, he rejoined the Boise State staff.
It was an awkward time, he said.
“Some gut-wrenching decisions that I had to make, but it all smoothed out,” he said.
Pease, who is from Mountain Home, spent the past five years as the wide receivers coach at Boise State. He was an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the previous 10 years, at Baylor, Kentucky, Northern Arizona and Montana. He played quarterback at Montana.
He hadn’t expected offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin to leave when he took the Indiana job. Harsin became the co-offensive coordinator at Texas on Friday.
Pease and Petersen said Indiana coach Kevin Wilson took the news well. Wilson, in fact, approached Pease when he found out about Harsin’s interview.
“He had great anticipation going into this,” Pease said. “… He totally understood.”
The offense isn’t expected to change much under Pease.
PRINCE: AN OLD FRIEND
Like offensive line coach Chris Strausser and linebackers coach Bob Gregory, Prince was an easy hire for Petersen. Prince was the wide receivers coach at Boise State from 2001 to 2003, while Petersen was the offensive coordinator.
Prince left for a job in the NFL, where he spent six years as an offensive assistant with three teams. He was the wide receivers coach at Colorado last year, under former Boise State coach Dan Hawkins.
“We had such a good time,” Petersen said of working with Prince in the past.
Prince helped produce two of the best receiving seasons in Boise State history. Billy Wingfield set the school record with 1,138 receiving yards in 2002 and Tim Gilligan — a former walk-on — broke it with 1,192 yards in 2003. Titus Young broke Gilligan’s record this season.
“When Coach Pete called me he said, ‘Hey, R.P., we can make this thing really simple,’ ” Prince said. “If you want to come back, let’s make this thing happen.”
A key reason Prince took the job — the quality of life in Boise for his family.
Chadd Cripe: 377-6398
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