This topic will be posted in every NCAA thread with teams corresponding to that conference. So go vote for your team. It will be interesting to see how large your teams fan base is on TFP. Do not vote unless its your team. That way we can get an accurate depiction of a teams fan base.
BOISE, Idaho – More than 300 people have come to hear his six-minute speech, but as Boise State coach Chris Petersen enters the buffet line, he jokes that there’s only one good thing about the booster luncheons he attends each football season.
“I’m just glad these things are on Monday,” Petersen says. “This way I can get it over with and move on with my week.”
Don’t get the wrong idea about Petersen.
The Broncos’ football coach is as down-to-earth as your child’s Sunday school teacher and as friendly as a Wal-Mart greeter – traits these Boise State diehards obviously admire as they cackle at Petersen’s one-liners between bites of banana cream pie.
Still, deep down, Petersen doesn’t want to be here.
He said it makes him uncomfortable, which is also how he feels when reporters huddle around him after games or when fans approach him in restaurants and ask for autographs.
“I actually think it embarrasses him a little,” Petersen’s wife, Barbara, says. “Chris sees Boise State football as a group effort. He knows his assistants and his players have just as big of a role as he does, yet he’s the one everyone wants to talk about. He’s the one everyone wants to see.”
Dislike it as he may, Petersen is getting used to the attention.
He doesn’t have any choice.
Less than three seasons into his tenure at Boise State, Petersen is now a member of college football’s “it-guy” fraternity, the coach who every school with a vacancy would love to interview thanks to his 34-3 record with the Broncos, who are ranked ninth in this week’s Associated Press poll.
The craze over Petersen actually began two years ago, when the rookie head coach showed some cajones by calling three late trick plays that resulted in the Broncos’ overtime victory against Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
That win capped a perfect season for Boise State – and now Petersen’s squad seems poised to accomplish the feat again, as a triumph over Fresno State would make the Broncos 12-0, just shy of their second BCS bowl game in three years.
“We’ve been fortunate,” Petersen says. “We’re getting nationwide television exposure, we’re improving our (facilities) and recruiting good kids. When you look at the whole picture, this really is a special place – and it’s only going to get better.”
The question is whether Petersen will be around to see it.
Dirk Koetter used three winning seasons at Boise State to land the Arizona State job in 2001. His successor, Dan Hawkins, went 53-11 in five seasons with the Broncos before moving on to Colorado.
With high-profile programs such as Washington needing a new coach, Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier knows it’s only a matter of time before schools begin calling him about Petersen. Bleymaier sighs when asked if “Coach Pete” may have a different career path than that of his predecessors.
“I hope so,” Bleymaier says. “I hope so.”
“We pick our recruiting battles wisely,” Petersen said. “Some kids worry about how many schools are recruiting them and about what conference they’re in or how big a stadium is. None of that stuff is going to have anything to do with their happiness once they get there.
“Some kids understand that. They understand what’s going to determine their happiness is the coaches that coach them, the teammates we surround them with and the chance to win a lot. Those are the kinds of kids we want.”
With high-profile programs such as Washington needing a new coach, Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier knows it’s only a matter of time before schools begin calling him about Petersen. Bleymaier sighs when asked if “Coach Pete” may have a different career path than that of his predecessors. This is parts of the article, if you want to read the entire thing, here is the link:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...o&type=lgnsSo, simple question. You think at some point Peterson will leave Boise? If so where? Will he leave this year with jobs such as Washington, Clemson, and maybe Notre Dame opening up? I would hope that he stays there.
Western Athletic
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