Chris Petersen stepping down as Washington football head coach

Chris Petersen is stepping down as the head coach at Washington after the team’s bowl game and will be replaced by Jimmy Lake as the Huskies’ new coach.

In a stunning development, Washington head coach Chris Petersen is stepping down after the team’s bowl game. Petersen won the Pac-12 in 2016 and 2018 with the Huskies and is one of the best college football coaches of the last decade-plus. Now, his time is over and defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake is the new head coach of the Huskies.

“It has been a privilege and a professional dream fulfilled to be part of this world-class institution,” Petersen said in a statement released by the school. “I will forever be grateful, honored and humbled to have had the opportunity to coach our fine young men on Montlake for these past six seasons. I thank each of them, as well as our coaches and administrative staff for the incredible commitment they’ve made to Husky football during my tenure. The football program and Husky Athletics across the board will continue to prosper – and do it the right way – with Jen Cohen’s leadership and the University administration’s commitment to excellence. I’ll be a Husky for life, but now is the right time for me to step away from my head coaching duties, and recharge.”

Petersen is 54-26 in six seasons at Washington but is just 1-4 in bowl games, including losses in the Rose, Fiesta and Peach the last three years. Washington went 7-5 this year and a disappointing 4-5 in the Pac-12. The disappointing season could have exacerbated Petersen’s desire to step down and take time off to recharge and possibly consider a return to coaching — somewhere — in the future.

Prior to arriving at Washington in 2014, Petersen established himself as one of the game’s top coaches at Boise State where he went 92-12 from 2006-2013. That run also included a pair of Fiesta Bowl wins, including the 2006 game that gave Petersen the first of two undefeated seasons. He also had four seasons where his teams finished in the top-5 of the final AP Poll at Boise and one such season at Washington, in 2016, when the Huskies made the College Football Playoff.

“Chris has been transformational for not only our football program, but our entire athletic department,” Washington athletic director Jennifer Cohen said. “It has been such a privilege to watch how he has been so committed to the development of our young men, not just on the field, but more importantly off. I can’t thank him enough for his service and leadership, and I look forward to having him stay on staff in a leadership advisory role, so he can continue to impact individuals across our department and the entire campus.”

Cohen and the rest of Washington’s administration and fans were hoping the Petersen era would have lasted much longer than six years, but his six years saw the Huskies as the premier team in the Pac-12. It didn’t result in national championships, but they were able to get in position to compete for them under Petersen.

The decision to give the job to Lake should provide some stability through the winter and transition from Petersen into the offseason. He wasn’t just given an interim tag so this is his job and there won’t be a nationwide search. Lake has turned down opportunities to take other jobs in the past but stuck around with the idea this could be his job in the near future. Now the future is here.

As for what’s next for Petersen? After 14 years as a head coach, he’ll transition into a leadership advisory role with the athletic department. And anytime a prominent job opens and he’s not a head coach, he’ll be at or near the top of the wishlist for those programs.

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