Chris Petersen has been tied to football for nearly 50 years, a lifetime.
It started in his youth when he grew up on the west bank of the Feather River. He would race through the house with a football while father Ron went over game film on a scratchy projector flickering images on the living room wall in their Yuba City home, Ron a coach at nearby Yuba College.
Then the kid became a player, and then a reluctant star. Petersen would praise teammates and coaches when he excelled at quarterback at Yuba City High School in the early 1980s. It was more of the same at Sacramento City College and then at UC Davis, where he set scores of passing records.
Petersen didn't anticipate a life in football beyond college. He pondered becoming a psychologist. But Petersen's UCD coach � Jim Sochor � convinced him to get into coaching, refreshed by the the young man's penchant to connect with those around him with preparation and poise. Sochor was deemed too important to turn down.
Petersen got hooked on teaching the game, of attacking defenses. He became the face for nationally ranked programs at Boise State and Washington, going all in with positive-reinforcement tactics he learned from his UCD time. He never embraced nor did he hire coaches who relied on brow-beating pupils with fear tactics. Petersen represented a new age and approach to the game.
Coaching consumed Petersen, but he would not let it devour him.
That's why Petersen on Monday announced his resignation from the Huskies, effective after the school's bowl game. It was a surprise, to be sure, but not a stunner if you've ever spent much time with Petersen.
I have known Petersen for years, and be it in the 1990s, 2000s or any time this decade, he often hinted that he wasn't in this for the long haul.
The young boy from Yuba City is 55 now. He's tired, a lot of gray contrasting his youthful looks. He was emotional during a news conference Tuesday. When he tried to talk about the support of his family, he choked up.
"You can't do this without an unbelievable family," said Petersen, who following the bowl game will remain on staff in an athletic advisory role.
Petersen said the football program will be in good hands with defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake. He said he needs time away from the game to catch his breath. Petersen said coaching can become "very heavy" and it was a load he no longer wants to burden.
"It becomes a lot of frustration and anxiety and stress," he said of the job in general. "And some of the excitement and positivity and optimism can be pushed away, and that's never a way to lead your life."
Petersen also said, "Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. I think about that around here. You've just got to figure out how we're going to continually stay at the top and try to be super competitive with whatever's thrown our way."
After reaching a big bowl during his six-year run with the Huskies, Petersen said he realized, "one of the things that hit me was after the Rose Bowl, having a chance to reflect a couple months after that, how much I did not appreciate that game like I should have."
Burnout is a harsh word in this profession, but losing steam comes with the territory in a business bent on winning. If it's not game-scheming or coaching a roster, then it's recruiting, which coaches often say is more taxing than practices or kickoffs. Since the summer of 2017, Bob Stoops stepped down at Oklahoma at age 54 and Urban Meyer at Ohio State 56.
But Stoops and Meyer seem to be tied with coaching openings. What about Petersen? Social media speculation that he is headed to USC or the SEC or the Dallas Cowboys is misguided. Petersen has never chased jobs.
"I'm not falling into that trick question," Petersen said Tuesday. "My whole plan is to get rested, to get recharged, and to get redirected. The one thing I know is I'm not ready to do nothing. ... I'm excited to see where this whole thing takes me."
Petersen was never one to seek out the next big thing. He remained at Boise State for eight years, bypassing interest from higher-profile USC and Stanford because he enjoyed the small-city life. He coached for six seasons at Washington, where the money was grand and the pressure equally as enormous.
Petersen bows out with a 146-37 head coaching record, including 92-12 at Boise State. He left an immeasurable impact on those who played for him. This includes Jake Browning of Folsom High fame. Browning set a bounty of Washington passing records as a four-year starter and is now with the Minnesota Vikings.
"Coach Pete played a huge role in my life and my teammates lives for all of his years at Washington," Browning wrote in a text. "Enjoyed my time with him and will always have fond memories of the time we spent together."
Petersen never wanted to stand out in a crowd. He wanted to blend in, even within his own circle, and he will now as a Washington advisor. During his final season at Boise State, Petersen showed me around his coaching offices on campus. His work space was the same size as that of his coordinators.
Explained Petersen then, "The assistants are just as important as I am. I'm no bigger."
That wasn't true, certainly, but that was his refreshing approach. While at Boise State, Petersen avoided wearing Broncos decals or colors when he went to the grocery store. He simply didn't want to get swarmed by fans, some of whom named their dogs, "Coach Pete."
"I'm just a regular guy," Petersen told me then. "I won't do this forever. I'll be happy and content doing this into my mid-50s and then being done with it. There's more to life than coaching every day, year-round."
