Coach Chris Petersen is ready to win — but it takes everybody doing their part
The biggest surprise about the UW for Chris Petersen, now starting his third season as head football coach, is that it really was everything he expected it to be — and then some.
“The power, the opportunities, the potential that the UW has for our kids, this place is a game-changer in so many ways,” he says. “I’m so excited for our players to come here. You just have to open your heart and let the people here guide you and it can change your life in ways you never dreamed.”
In nearly 30 years of college coaching, he says the game has never been so competitive. That makes it all the more crucial for Husky fans and donors to understand their role in building winning teams.
“Winning is such a hard thing to do. The people who support us understand how good our league is. They know what it takes to compete at the highest levels, not just athletically but academically and in life,” Coach Petersen explains. “It sounds like a cliché, but to have a competitive edge takes everybody. We can’t just have great administration or a really good coaching staff or great players. When you’re competing at this level and the margin for error is minute, everything matters. If you don’t have it all in place, you can’t be the best.”
His confidence is almost as strong as his passionate commitment to the student-athletes he coaches.
“Our purpose is to build a team to win championships and build young men to excel in life,” he states. “We emphasize accountability, work ethic, goals, values and education. They can play football at the highest level and they can do everything else at the highest level, too.”
He’s excited about The Game Changer Campaign for Husky Athletics because he knows increased funding will enable him to recruit and retain the best coaches and provide his team with cutting-edge tools for success — such as virtual reality technology now being developed and used at competing schools like Stanford.
“Everybody can feel this. Now’s the time. We just need everybody to take that next step.”
Your impact on recruiting great coaches
Increased private support will allow us to recruit the very best role models and leaders for our student-athletes — the dedicated coaches who serve as our faculty. For the first time ever, The Game Changer Campaign for Husky Athletics offers you the opportunity to establish named coaching endowments. Just as endowing a professorship or deanship in an academic department helps attract world-class scholars to the UW, an endowed coaching or staff position will enhance our success in bringing exciting new talent to Husky Athletics and keeping the great staff we already have.
