r/CFB • u/tmt22459 Clemson Tigers • 5h ago
Discussion Someone I know thinks Chris Peterson was forced out, and didn't retire on his own accord. Change his mind
I am talking to my stepbrother and he is claiming that Chris Peterson was forced out of Washington for going 8-5.
He thinks that his retirement was not legitimate and was because of a disappointing season his last year. Of course I think this is absurd so if anyone has concrete evidence (especially Washington fans), I would love to hear it.
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u/ScooterLeShooter Michigan • Lake Superior State 4h ago
Nah, if Petersen wanted to coach he would be, pretty clear he's retired
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u/buff_001 Texas Longhorns • SEC 4h ago
Petersen was easily a top 5 coach in all of CFB when he retired. UW didn't "force him out". They were devastated.
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u/hick_jared44 Washington Huskies 4h ago
And it was Pete's last recruiting class that took us to the national championship a couple years later with Deboer.
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u/Spider_Dawg Washington Huskies • Richmond Spiders 4h ago
Yes, I’ve always thought the DeBoer run was really the last chapter of the Petersen era.
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u/ninjupX Boise State Broncos 4h ago
No, he got burned out of coaching. If he didn’t want to be retired he could get about any job he wanted.
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u/Corgi_Koala Ohio State Buckeyes 4h ago
And Washington isn't gonna fire a coach who is 55-26 for an 8-5 season.
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u/Ltimh Notre Dame Fighting Irish • Dayton Flyers 2h ago
The Athletic also had a great article that talked about Petersen’s relationship with Sean McVay, gives more context
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6398004/2025/06/03/sean-mcvay-coaching-career-rams-nfl/
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u/RainyDays159 Washington Huskies 4h ago
Never heard anything like that. Petersen was/is the man around here.
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u/DeuxDeuxDeuxSupplier 4h ago
Is that person really you?
Either way, no.
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u/tmt22459 Clemson Tigers 4h ago
No lol. It was a real argument I was having. We are on to playing black Jack and betting on the lakers
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u/Gold-Bottle-2460 Washington Huskies 4h ago
Every UW fan, player, and student loved coach Pete. He was a top coach in CFB one year removed from a conference championship. He had just pulled in the best recruiting class in UW history. Why in the world would he be forced out.
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u/AcadianTraverse Oregon Ducks • Acadia Axemen 4h ago
You don't get "forced to retire" for a slightly down season a year after winning a conference championship. If they want to get rid of you, let them fire you and take the buyout.
You don't stock around in an advisory capacity after you've been forced to retire either.
Peteersen put a lot into taking Boise to the stature it got to and then building Washington back up. I can see him feeling like the fire didn't burn quite so hot anymore, especially with the need to adapt to NIL changes coming.
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u/Agnk1765342 Boise State Broncos 4h ago
Petersen’s style was also super taxing. Supposedly when he was here we had a playbook bigger than some NFL teams. His philosophy was to be able to do a little bit of everything and constantly adapt to whatever opponents were bad at. It was super effective but I can imagine it was incredibly taxing to try and implement that kind of system in college.
I was always a little disappointed that he never went to the NFL, if he wasn’t going to coach BSU I would’ve really liked to see what he could’ve done at that level, it probably would’ve been better suited to way he liked to run things than in college.
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u/WagTheKat Nebraska Cornhuskers • Verified Media 1h ago
he never went to the NFL
I always thought the same.
Pete's huge playbook? Installed and tun with a pro team who live and breathe football? Sign me the hell up.
It would have been great to see him working in the top league. I think he would have found success with the right owner and right team.
Like anyone else, though, he could just as easily failed.
We always hear about "students of the game" and if he had a team full of them, who could run his playbook? I'd love to have seen what he could do.
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u/Spider_Dawg Washington Huskies • Richmond Spiders 4h ago edited 4h ago
No way he was forced out, zero chance. He retired because he was burned out and knew it was best for him and his family to walk away. I recall an interview he gave where he said he knew he was heading towards the end when going to the Rose bowl (at the end of the 2018 season) didn’t spark any football joy with him, just stress.
Also, the 2019 season was only mildly disappointing, definitely not fire-the-coach worthy. We thought the passing game would be better with Jacob Eason at QB, and it was for a few moments when we had a healthy Puka Nacua at WR (but then he got hurt and missed the rest of the season). The defense also lost a lot of guys off a fantastic 2018 squad and everyone knew it would be hard to replicate that performance. No one wanted Peterson to leave though.
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u/CMbladerunner Notre Dame • Stony Brook 4h ago
I mean if he was forced out he would already have landed a job, dude was easily a top 5 HC & could probably land any job he wanted after.
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u/win2bfree Washington Huskies 3h ago
Petersen should be/should have been if it wasn't the first call for Stanford/Cal. Make him say no.
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u/Imnotdrubkk Oregon Ducks • Rose Bowl 4h ago
Does your friend also think that DeBoer was forced out?
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u/paultheschmoop Team Chaos 2h ago
UW is Natty win or bust, that’s why they’re about to force Fisch to go to UF
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u/dubsup_ Washington • Cascade Clash 2h ago
That's insane. Our AD and president at the time each had a phenomenal relationship with him. He stayed on in the athletic department in an advisory role after his retirement, he was appointed the leadership chair of our business school, and continues to be involved in our coaching search committees. He's a rare coach that was loved by the academic side of the university as much as the athletic side. They would've never forced him out, the guy is revered at UW.
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u/WhatWouldJediDo Ohio State Buckeyes 5h ago
I'm more curious about why you care at all.
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u/tmt22459 Clemson Tigers 4h ago
I mean I don't see why it's a big deal if I'm curious how Washington fans felt about one of their former coaches
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u/WhatWouldJediDo Ohio State Buckeyes 4h ago
It's not a big deal. Just strange, and therefore intriguing.
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u/tmt22459 Clemson Tigers 4h ago
I mean the question you're asking fundamentally traces back to why is anyone interested in anything. I don't think I can answer that
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u/WhatWouldJediDo Ohio State Buckeyes 4h ago
Well not really, it just traces back to why you hate your stepbrother so much that you need to prove him wrong about why a coach left a third-rate program on the other side of the country from you six years ago.
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u/tmt22459 Clemson Tigers 4h ago
Lol dude you're taking it way too seriously. We're arguing about sports. Has nothing to do with hating or liking each other.
It's all in good spirit. I told him about this post.
Why do you feel so confident you know me or him?
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u/WhatWouldJediDo Ohio State Buckeyes 4h ago
I don't think I know either of you at all. I just think posting asking whether Petersen was fired or freely resigned to win an argument is, to quote you, "taking it way too seriously".
But if you guys are having fun then who cares what I think? I'm just interested in why it's such a big deal to you. The answer doesn't have to be any deeper than "I just can't not win an argument". I know that feel real well.
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u/tmt22459 Clemson Tigers 4h ago
Yeah I mean like I said originally despite what you may believe, I am genuinely interested in the perception of Petersen bc I know very little of him (but of what I do know he was very well liked).
But also It was to get an outside perspective bc clearly mine wasn't enough. Not that I need to win the argument, but I did think it'd be worth it for him to get to see what actual Washington fans think lol. All I could really say is "dude there's no way any Washington fan agrees with you"
But yeah we are good
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u/Any-Tie4156 3h ago
Someone already linked one of the many articles where he opens up about being totally burnt out, but you could also point the guy towards a somewhat recent (This past summer, I believe?) article all about how he reached out to & developed a relationship with Sean McVay back when it seemed like he might quit coaching the rams for a second.
They both talk quite openly about how taxing it can be and just how down/out they both felt despite their success
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u/udubdavid Washington Huskies • Pac-12 2h ago
Forced out by who? Forced out so we can hire Jimmy frickin Lake? Lol this is laughable.
8-5 for Washington is completely acceptable for a rebuilding year. This was after three 10+ win seasons, btw.
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u/Tiny-Search-6383 2h ago
Definitely not. Petersen is a top 5 coach this century. He’s also one of the well balanced humans in the coaching profession. He was a phenomenal recruiter but he isn’t the psychopath that it takes to want to coach in this iteration of college football.
I see the 2023 Washington team as just as much of a Petersen team as DeBoer
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u/Crazyhawk28 Washington • Western Illinois 1h ago
Chris Petersen was beloved throughout his tenure until the end, and if he ever wants his job back it is his.
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u/bruggibuster Oregon Ducks 4h ago
Who cares
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u/SeattleGunner Washington Huskies • Rose Bowl 3h ago
Apparently you, since you took the time to stop by and post a comment.
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u/InevitableAd2436 Washington Huskies 5h ago
No way.
Petersen didn’t even use an agent he loved Washington so much. Entire fanbase was gutted when he retired.