What Happens to Boise State in Post-Chris Petersen Era?

The new head coach for the Washington Huskies is Chris Petersen. Not only is this a great hire by the Huskies, but it is also a great opportunity for Petersen himself. The question that now remains is what does Boise State do from here?

The next head coach for Boise will have huge shoes to fill. While Petersen was head coach at Boise he had an astounding 92-12 record and a 5-2 record in bowls, including the unforgettable 2007 Fiesta Bowl victory over the highly favored Oklahoma Sooners.

If it wasn’t for Petersen, I feel no one would be talking about Boise whatsoever. Chris is a very talented head coach, and jumping at the opportunity to coach at a school that plays in a BCS conference is just another step in building his resume. However, if Petersen goes to Washington and fails to have as much success as he had at Boise, skeptics will emerge and start talking about how he should have stayed put at Boise and just rode it out there as long as he could.

I don’t see a large list of big name coaches lining up to coach at Boise. The process to hire a new coach is going to be long and strenuous for Boise, and the odds of getting a head coach that was or is as good as Petersen is slim to none.

Petersen will be forever connected with Boise, and what the two of them had together was complete magic. Now that Chris is moving on to greener pastures, will Boise fall off the face of the earth or will a new head coach step up and be willing to try to not only match what Petersen did but succeed him as well? Regardless of what happens next, the post-Petersen era has begun at Boise.

Michael Pidgeon is a Los Angeles Dodgers writer for Rant Sports.com: “Like” him on Facebook, Follow him on Twitter @1AndOnlyPidgeon, add him to your network on Google or e-mail him at