PAC-12 North has assembled impressive group of head coaches
By Peter Smith
With the hire and depending on the viewpoint, upgrade for the Washington Huskies in light of the reported deal that would have Chris Petersen take over their head coaching job from Boise State, the PAC-12 North has assembled an impressive stable of head coaches. Peterson would be joining a division that includes David Shaw at Stanford, Mark Helfrich at Oregon, Mike Riley at Oregon State, Mike Leach at Washington State and Sonny Dykes at Cal Berkeley.
Shaw and Helfrich battled for the top of the division this past year while Riley is one of the more highly respected coaches in the country. Both coaches inherited the programs when the head coaches that brought them in moved onto the NFL; Jim Harbaugh to the San Francisco 49ers and Chip Kelly to the Philadelphia Eagles. Helfrich may have more to prove in how well he can sustain Oregon’s success and if he can put them over the top while Shaw is regarded as one of the top coaching prospects in the country.
Leach and Dykes are trying to build up programs that have been through some tough times recently, but had success at Texas Tech and Louisiana Tech respectively. They are regarded as two of the best offensive minds but have played next to no defense to this point. Leach is one of the most controversial coaches in the country but he has a job because he can win.
Riley runs one of the more underrated programs in the nation. They tend to sneak up on people when they have good seasons and he has been an institution in Corvallis and has been able to pull off a number of notable upsets.
Now, Chris Petersen takes the place of Steve Sarkisian who is off to USC. Petersen’s record and impact at Boise State is incredible; a 92-12 record with 2 BCS Bowl wins for a team that was only really known for having blue turf when he got there.
There is a ton of potential for some great battles on the field as well as off the field in recruiting. It is as impressive a group of coaches in one division of a conference as there is in the country going right now.