We hear the debate all the time, who’s the best coach in the world of college football? Nick Saban? Urban Meyer? Jim Harbaugh? Dabo Swinney? Nope, keep them. I’ll take Chris Petersen any day of the week. Show me another coach who can do what he does. Now while that might sound like an incredibly general argument, let me break it down for you.
First of all, let’s look at the numbers. On the all time winning percentage list, Coach Pete is ranked 11th, the only active coach ahead of him is Urban Meyer. But look at what Chris Petersen has done in three years at the University of Washington, he’s turned them from a borderline bowl team into a national championship contenders. Again, how long did that take him? THREE YEARS. And that’s just at Washington, at Boise State his career record is 92-10, including huge bowl victories over powerhouse programs like Oklahoma and TCU.
Recommended for you
Well, I think the argument should stop there, but it won’t because as I’ve learned throughout the year, people don’t like Coach Pete and the Huskies because they played a soft schedule this year. That team deserved to be there, and the fact that they ended up playing (and hanging in there) with arguably the best college team ever in Alabama should speak for itself. But again it won’t because for whatever reason people will continue to dismiss the Huskies. Let’s keep in mind that the Huskies’ top edge rusher and leading tackler both missed the bowl game. Also, Heisman contending quarterback Jake Browning played that game with a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery. Now while that might sound like an excuse to non-Husky fans, don’t say a word because if your favorite team was in their shoes, you know you’d say the exact same things. So please be mindful when you talk about the Peach Bowl, because I think Alabama might’ve really awoken the sleeping giant in the Northwest.
Now I want to talk about one of the most confusing parts of college football, the recruiting process. There are so many different websites with so many different recruiting boards, so we never truly know who the number one or two players are in the class, there’s hardly ever a consensus on that. But we do know who the top recruits are, and we usually know who they end up wanting to play for (see the afore mentioned coaches) which is why we always see the same teams atop the recruiting rankings. We always see those teams in the title hunt as well. But now let’s take a look at the classes, as ranked by ESPN, that got Chris Petersen to the College Football Playoff. The 2014 class was ranked 45th. 2015’s class was 28th. 2016’s class was 29th. This year’s class is 22nd. But nevermind this year’s class yet because they haven’t hit the field just yet. Now let’s remember that Coach Petersen’s team finished 4th in the nation in the AP and the Coaches Poll.
Let’s also look at the talent he has developed over just the past 3 years. Sidney Jones is arguably the best corner in this year’s NFL Draft, but coming out of high school, he was the #77 ranked cornerback in America, per ESPN. Vita Vea wasn’t a very big name coming out of high school either, but there have been rumors that the big defensive tackle could be picked in the top 10 when he declares for the draft. There are so many other guys like this I can name, JoJo Mathis, John Ross, Azeem Victor, Kevin King. Now does all the credit there go to Petersen? Of course not, those guys worked hard to get to where they are, but we have to make sure that Petersen gets some of the credit. He’s assembled one of the best coaching staffs in the country up in Seattle, and they got their team to #4 in the country without a single five star recruit on their team. Now if that doesn’t signify true greatness, I don’t know what does. Alabama and Clemson can have all the five stars that they want, but keep in mind Coach Petersen doesn’t have any of that, and he’s still hot on their trail on the way to the national championship.
