Chris Petersen must really, really love Boise State University. Despite not playing in a BCS conference and being located in one of the more remote areas of the country, Petersen has continually turned down coaching gigs from bigger schools with deep pockets. After a few rumors suggesting he was considering a move to Los Angeles to coach the UCLA Bruins, they were quickly shot down by multiple sources.
We all knew the Bruins were interested in bringing Petersen to town, but no one knew they were this serious. According to the LA Times, the program was preparing to offer the head coach $4 million dollars a season, as well as providing $3 million to fill out his coaching staff.
Boise State Coach Chris Petersen is no longer a candidate for the UCLA football job, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak on the subject. Petersen had been target by UCLA officials after Rick Neuheisel was fired as the Bruins coach Monday.
UCLA offered Petersen a contract that would have paid him nearly $4-million per season, plus nearly $3 million for assistant coaches. Petersen, who has a 71-6 record at Boise State, decided to remain at Boise State because of lifestyle reasons. He has turned down other universities in the past, including a $3-million offer from Stanford last year, for the same reasons.
That's a whole lot of money to turn down. Petersen must really love the city of Boise (or the color blue), which isn't a bad thing at all. With today's wacky world of college coaches always jumping ship for what may seem like a better job, Petersen has stayed true to the Broncos.
UCLA will continue their coaching search and it will likely pick up once the Pac-12 conference championship wraps up. For more on the search, check out Bruins Nation.