It’s fitting that the college football coach who turned late-night kickoffs into a national conversation topic was former Boise State coach Chris Petersen.
After all, it was the Broncos’ program that was the first to feel the effects of ESPN’s quest to fill Saturdays with football from 10 a.m. to midnight and beyond in the Mountain Time Zone.
Petersen, in his fourth year at Washington, apologized to his fan base last week for the Huskies’ over-abundance of kickoffs in “late prime” – ESPN’s 10 p.m.- 2 a.m. Eastern time slot.
ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit countered with criticism of Petersen on “College GameDay” – insisting that Petersen should be thankful for the exposure ESPN provides.