Chris Petersen was considered one of college football’s elite coaches, ushering Boise State into an unlikely national power and then rebuilding Washington, reaching the College Football Playoff with the Pac-12 program in 2016.
At the end of the 2019 season, Petersen made the fairly surprising announcement that he would step down from coaching, taking an advisory role within UW athletics. At 55, he was still in the prime of his coaching years.
“I’ll be a Husky for life, but now is the right time for me to step away from my head coaching duties, and recharge,” he said at the time.