Petersen Says He Will Stay at Boise State

by Scott Allen on Jan 10, 2026 4:17 PM PST

More photos » Josh Holmberg - ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chris Petersen is staying in Boise.

According to a school-issued release, Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, the biggest name linked to the Stanford head coaching vacancy created by the departure of Jim Harbaugh, has announced he "is staying at Boise State and will continue directing the football program." (Thanks to CardiGirl for the FanShot.)

Petersen also announced the hiring of Brent Pease, the Broncos' former wide receivers coach, who took a job as the offensive coordinator at Indiana less than two weeks ago. The position opened after Bryan Harsin left Boise State to take the offensive coordinator position at Texas.

So what does this mean for Stanford's coaching search? For now, it means the attention returns to the three in-house candidates: Vic Fangio, Greg Roman, and David Shaw. Ivan Maisel tweeted that if Roman is hired as head coach, Shaw would likely stay, but the reverse is not true. Tim Kawakami thinks that the only way Fangio doesn't join Harbaugh in San Francisco is if the Cardinal promote him from defensive coordinator to head coach.

Stay tuned.

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Comments

Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

What a #%#$@ cluster #$%#.

There is just no good way to extricate the football program from this situation.

Hire an internal coach and the other 2 leave giving no continuity and an unproven head coach in a year that the Cardinal could legitimately contend for a national championship.

Any proven head coach who could win in one year is afraid of the Shadow of Harbaugh and the future without Luck, see Petersen. Otherwise, you are looking at retreads, like Mike Bellotti or Mike Leach who’s style of play does not fit the current players.

I don’t believe that a great FCS, DII, or DIII coach can win a national championship in their first year as an FBS coach.

Bowlsby screwed this one up big time and the longer it drones out only makes it worse by negatively impacting the recruiting process.

by jterry94 on Jan 10, 2026 5:21 PM PST reply actions

Not exactly sure how Bowlsby screwed up..........

He went after a guy in Peterson…….but he cant MAKE him come here……….Given the adminstration’s reluctance to break the bank on a coach (other than Harbaugh) I think hiring internally is the way to go……..I’m sure there’s a way to keep as much continunity as possible……..

Have faith friend………it’s not over yet.

The score dictated they pass

by norcaliangelsfan on Jan 10, 2026 5:34 PM PST up reply actions

Bowlsby

He should have offered Harbaugh an extension at $3M/year at the end of last year.

December was far too late. Maybe, if it happened in Sept or late Oct, there may have been a chance at retaining Harbaugh for one more shot.

by jterry94 on Jan 10, 2026 5:54 PM PST reply actions

I don't think it would've mattered...

Harbaugh was going to test the NFL market at some point, no matter what Stanford did.

by RickeySteals on Jan 10, 2026 8:17 PM PST up reply actions

Co-Head Coaches?

I wish there were a way to make Roman AND Fangio co-head coaches. They do it with captains, why not coaches, right? I know that’s ridiculous, but it sounds like it’s the only way to keep them all. It also sounds like Fangio might follow Harbaugh no matter what, which makes my heart hurt.

by CardiGrl on Jan 10, 2026 8:26 PM PST reply actions

True

It was the improvement on the defensive side of the ball that made this team special. It was one of the few Stanford teams that I have seen that could actually stop someone.

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