Washington head coach Chris Petersen recently gave the impression he had already forgotten the program that made him a household name. Peterson, however, argued he was misquoted and the Boise State Broncos have every right to play against top college football programs.
There was a time when it would have been unthinkable to see Petersen leave Boise State for another job. Year after year, his name was attached to every available opening at a major university. Petersen politely declined interviews each time until the Washington Huskies called.
Petersen was named the Huskies’ new head coach on Dec. 6. Eight months later, ESPN.com’s Brett McMurphy polled all 65 Power Five head coaches about whether or not they would like to see their program exclusively schedule other Power Five opponents. Inexplicably, Petersen was one of 30 coaches that voted in favor of such a change.
It was a shot across the bow for Petersen’s former school, particularly when Washington is slated to play Boise State during the 2015 season.
Petersen decided to clear the air regarding his vote.
“First of all, I don’t even know when I answered that question,” Petersen told reporters in Seattle. “I had a lot of questions coming at me and I didn’t really know exactly what it meant. I think we are trying to get some parity in terms of scheduling in terms of the league games that we play so we are all on the same footing there. I think a Boise State, I don’t know if they are in a quote power conference, but they are a power team. So I’m always a Boise State fan and I wouldn’t do anything to keep those guys, so called, out of the mix.
“I’ve been in that conference forever and I know the players and coaches that are in there so there’s no question that we’d wanna play those guys and I know they wanna play us. There’s good players and that’s great competition.”