The awards and accolades keep accumulating for Boise State head football coach Chris Petersen.

                After guiding the 2008 Broncos to a 12-1 overall record, a league championship and an appearance in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, Petersen was named the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year by a vote of his peers in early December.

                In addition, it was announced in December that Petersen had been named a 2008 finalist for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year honor.  Petersen is one of eight head coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) who were finalists for the award, which is considered college football’s top coaching honor.

                Petersen was named the 2006 winner of the Bryant award after leading the Broncos to an undefeated season of 13-0 and their now-famous 43-42 overtime victory over the University of Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

                In addition to the Bryant Award, Petersen was also named a finalist for the Liberty Mutual and Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year awards in 2008.

                Petersen, who has a career record of 35-4 for a .875 winning percentage, guided last year’s Boise State team to its third undefeated regular season in five years, its sixth WAC championship in seven seasons, and finished the season with a No. 11 ranking by the Associated Press. The Broncos also fell just two points short of completing their second undefeated season in three years, with a 16-17 loss to No. 11 TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl. 

                In his three seasons at Boise State, “Coach Pete” has clearly established himself as one of the top young football coaches in the country, leading the Broncos to a bowl game and a consistent presence in the national rankings each of those years. Under Petersen, Boise State has compiled an impressive 23-1 record in the WAC with a league championship in 2006 and 2008 and a runner-up finish in ’07.

                Considered one of the most innovative offensive minds in the college coaching ranks, Petersen has guided an offense that continues to be among the nation’s best. At the end of the 2008 regular season, Boise State ranked 11th in passing efficiency, tied for 12th in scoring offense (37.62 points per game), 13th in passing offense (288.54 yards per game) and 18th in total offense (440.85 ypg) among the nation’s 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

                The ’08 Bronco defense fared even better in the national rankings. Boise State was ranked second in pass defense efficiency, third in scoring defense (12.62 points per game), 20th in total defense (308.15 yards per game), 22nd in rushing defense (118.00 yards per game) and 34th in pass defense (190.15 ypg).

                The unbeaten Broncos finished their ’08 regular season ranked ninth in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, the USA Today coaches’ poll and the Bowl Championship Series rankings. Boise State’s No. 5 ranking at the end of the 2006 season was the highest in school history.

                As the ninth head coach in the 40-year history of Boise State’s football participation at the four-year level, Petersen led the ’06 Broncos to their first undefeated season since 1958 (when the school was still a junior college), their first-ever BCS bowl berth, and their fifth straight WAC title.

                Honors and national rankings are nothing new to Petersen. In the history of college football, only one coach since 1900 won 13 games in his first season at the helm of an FBS team. That coach was Petersen in 2006. In addition to winning the Bryant award that year, Petersen was a finalist for the ’06 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award, a semifinalist for the George Munger Coach of the Year award, and was named the Region 4 Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. As Boise State’s offensive coordinator from 2001-2005, he was twice (2002 and 2004) a finalist for the Broyles Award, which honors the nation’s top assistant football coach.

                During Petersen’s stint as offensive coordinator, Boise State featured one of the most potent offenses in the country, averaging 41.3 points per game while also finishing as the nation’s top scoring team twice (2002 and 2003). The Broncos also finished second (2004), eighth (2005) and 18th (2001) in the nation in scoring while Petersen was running the Broncos’ offense. During Petersen’s five seasons as offensive coordinator, BSU finished in the top 15 in total offense four times, including three top10 finishes – first in 2002, fourth in 2004, and seventh in 2003.

                The Broncos also had four top 20 finishes in passing during that time, including a high ranking of fifth in 2003. BSU also ranked in the top 25 in the country in rushing in three of the last four seasons that Petersen coached the offense, including 14th in 2004 and 15th in 2005.

                Several players have excelled individually under Petersen in his three years as head coach; the most recent example is freshman quarterback Kellen Moore in 2008.

                Moore, who was named 2008 WAC Freshman of the Year, finished the season ranked 12th in the nation in passing efficiency and 24th in total offense. In the WAC he was second in passing (268.20 yards per game) and total offense (265.85 ypg).

                In Petersen’s three years as head coach, 17 of his players were named first-team All-WAC and 15 others were selected second-team all-conference.

                In 2008 the Broncos placed lineman Andrew Woodruff and wide receiver Jeremy Childs on WAC first team offense and defensive end Ryan Winterswyk, cornerback Kyle Wilson and safety/linebacker Ellis Powers on the first team defense. Players who earned second-team recognition were Moore, wide receiver Austin Pettis, running back Ian Johnson, defensive end Mike T. Williams, safety Jeron Johnson and Wilson (as a punt returner).

                In 2008 Boise State tied for the highest-scoring offense in the WAC, averaging 37.6 points per game. The Broncos were also second in the league in passing (288.5 yards per game) and total offense (440.80 ypg). On defense the Broncos led the league in several categories: fewest points allowed per game (12.6), fewest yards allowed per game (308.2), best pass defense efficiency and lowest opponents’ fourth-down conversion rate (27.8 percent). The Broncos also led the WAC in punting (39.6 net yards per kick).

                Given Petersen’s ability to develop quarterbacks, the future bodes well for Moore. As BSU’s offensive coordinator and then as its head coach, Coach Pete was instrumental in the development of quarterbacks Ryan Dinwiddie and Jared Zabransky, who are among the most successful collegiate signal callers in recent years. Dinwiddie, who guided the Bronco offense from 2001-03, finished as the NCAA career passing efficiency leader with a rating of 168.19. Dinwiddie had a career-best 188.18 rating in 2002 that would have set an NCAA single-season record if he played in one more game. (He missed four complete games and parts of two other contests because of a leg injury.) He also had a 164.69 rating in 2001 and a 163.72 rating in 2003, both good enough for fourth in the country. With Petersen as his quarterback coach, as well as the team’s offensive coordinator, Dinwiddie led the Broncos to a 28-6 record as a starter.

                After Dinwiddie left, Petersen helped groom Zabransky into one of the nation’s most successful quarterbacks from 2004-06. Zabransky led Boise State to three straight league titles, two undefeated regular seasons, and a 32-5 record in his three years as a starter, including a 23-1 record in WAC games.

                Offensive tackle Ryan Clady also excelled under Petersen. A consensus All-American in 2007, Clady decided to skip his senior year of college and make himself eligible for the 2008 NFL draft. In April he became the first Bronco ever selected in the first round, going to Denver as the 12th overall selection. In 2006, Petersen’s first season as head coach, Clady earned second-team All-America recognition from SI.com while Ian Johnson (first team SI.com and CBS Sportline; second team Sporting News; and third team Associated Press) and linebacker Korey Hall (second team Sporting News) also earned All-America honors that year.

                In his five seasons as offensive coordinator, Petersen had two players earn All-America honors – running back Brock Forsey in 2002 and offensive tackle Daryn Colledge in 2004. He also helped 12 Broncos earn first-team All-WAC honors, while two (Dinwiddie in 2003 and Forsey in 2002) were named WAC Offensive Player of the Year.

                Petersen came to Boise State as Dan Hawkins’ offensive coordinator following the 2000 season from the University of Oregon, where he was the wide receivers coach. He joined the Oregon staff in 1995 and immediately helped contribute to a passing attack that ranked among the nation’s elite each of the six seasons he was an assistant. Twice during Petersen’s tenure at Oregon, the Duck offense broke the school record for single-season passing yards, and three times in the same time period the team broke the single-season school record for most touchdowns.

                Prior to working at Oregon, Petersen served as the quarterbacks coach at Portland State from 1993-1994, helping the Vikings advance to the NCAA Division II playoffs both seasons.

                In 1992 Petersen was the quarterbacks coach at the University of Pittsburgh. That season the Panthers established a school record for passing yards and ranked eighth nationally in total offense and passing. In addition, he contributed to the development of first-team All-Big East Conference quarterback Alex Van Pelt, who eclipsed the school’s passing yardage totals previously held by Dan Marino.

                Petersen’s success as a coach can be linked to his record-setting career as a quarterback at the University of California, Davis. As a senior with the Aggies, he was named the Northern California Athletic Conference Player of the Year and was the top-rated Division II quarterback in the nation. Petersen received second-team Kodak Division II All-America honors and still holds the Division II record for career pass completions at 69.6 percent. Petersen was inducted into the UC Davis Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.

                After receiving his bachelor’s degree in psychology from UC Davis in 1988, Petersen started his coaching career at his alma mater, serving as UC Davis’ head freshman coach in 1987-88 and the receivers coach from 1989-91. Petersen holds a master’s degree in educational psychology from UC Davis. He and his wife, Barbara, are the parents of two sons, Jack (13) and Sam (10).