JAKE AND STACY

For UW Huskies’ Petersen, is facing Boise good or bad?

Dec 10, 2019, 10:55 AM | Updated: 1:51 pm

UW Huskies HC Chris Petersen...

UW Huskies' coach Chris Petersen's last game will be against his old team, Boise State. (Getty)

(Getty)

When the 7-5 UW Huskies take on the Boise State Broncos in the Las Vegas Bowl Dec. 21, the main storyline will revolve around Chris Petersen.

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Petersen, the UW head coach since late-2013, announced last week that he is stepping down after the Huskies’ bowl game. Defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake has already been announced as the next head coach.

The Huskies’ opponent, 12-1 Boise State, is where Petersen got on the map as a football coach.

Petersen went 92-12 at Boise and put the program on the map with big wins like the 2006 Fiesta Bowl against powerhouse Oklahoma. After eight years leading the Broncos – additional five years as the program’s offensive coordinator before being named head coach – Petersen moved one state west to coach the Huskies.

So, Petersen’s current team facing his old team as well as one of his old coordinators in Boise head coach Bryan Harsin. Quite the storyline, right? Well, is this movie-like script actually a nightmare for Petersen?

“The conversation is going to be all around Chris Petersen,” Jake Heaps said on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Tom, Jake and Stacy. “One of the biggest things with Chris Petersen and his entire six years at the University of Washington is he’s kind of wanted to be out of the spotlight.”

In an era of college football with coaches like Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Alabama’s Nick Saban and LSU’s Ed Orgeron who all have big personalities, Petersen just quietly went about his business on the sideline and in recruiting.

He hasn’t been one of those flashy guys,” Heaps said.

“Now (you’ll have) 10-11 days of just non-stop talking about Chris Petersen and him having to talk about Chris Petersen, himself,” Heaps said. “I don’t know if that’s something that he wants to do.”

Co-host Stacy Rost said with Petersen and the Las Vegas Bowl, it feels like a movie scene where someone is backstage at a play or event and the curtain rises and suddenly all eyes are on them.

“The intention wasn’t to have the story about him, he’s just quietly trying to finish out the season so he can take a step back and as he says ‘recharge,’” Rost said. “He doesn’t pick the bowl game, he doesn’t know what the opponent is going to be and all of a sudden … he’s stumbled out on the stage, the curtain has lifted, everyone’s looking at him and he’s just thinking ‘oh no, what did I do?’”

Rost said she feels bad for the UW Huskies’ head coach for having the bowl game play out this way.

“He’s never really been that coach,” Rost said. “He’s never been one to chase the spotlight and now this is kind of the story of this.”

Heaps wondered if Petersen will be reflective in the lead up to the bowl game.

“(Do you think he’ll) be able to sit back and actually think about everything that he’s been able to accomplish in his college career as a head coach and be able to just enjoy the moment?” Heaps said. “Or do you think he’s going to be dreading it the whole time?”

Rost said it can go either way, but once it’s time for the game it will be business as usual.

“On the one hand it can be this really cool thing,” Rost said. “It’s awkward and it’s uncomfortable, but you’re also finishing out your current college career with the two teams that you spent your career with (as a head coach) that made you. It can either be incredibly awkward and uncomfortable, or it can be something where you look back and think, “Wow, I contributed so much to these two programs and I made them what they are and what a special time in my life.’”

Rost also said this is a good send off for Petersen’s fans or those who appreciate the work he has done in college football.

“The majority of fans are looking at this game, these two teams, in kind of an appreciation of Chris Petersen,” Rost said.

“I hope that’s what ends up happening,” Heaps said. “Hopefully he’s able to have that perspective.”

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake Heaps and Stacy Rost on Twitter.

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For UW Huskies’ Petersen, is facing Boise good or bad?