Washington hires Chris Petersen to replace Steve Sarkisian

It is worth noting that Steve Sarkisian’s new contract numbers at USC have not been reported, so there’s a chance he makes more than Petersen moving forward. Sarkisian made nearly $2.6M at Washington last year. Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham was actually the third-highest paid coach in the Pac-12 last year behind Lane Kiffin and Sarkisian, earning just over $2.4 million.

The Huskies paid SEC money to lure Petersen from Boise State. His new deal makes him the 11th-highest paid coach in the country, just behind Charlie Strong at Louisville and ahead of the likes of SEC coaches Steve Spurrier, Mark Richt and Kevin Sumlin. Alabama’s Nick Saban makes more than anyone in base salary at just over $5.5 million annually.

Boise State head coach Chris Petersen will be hired as the head coach at Washington, the school confirmed Friday in a release, ending his storied run as the head coach of the Boise State Broncos.

Petersen, 49, has been a West Coast guy nearly his entire life. After a brief playing career as a quarterback in college, Petersen turned to coaching upon receiving his bachelor’s degree in psychology. His first coaching gig came in 1987 at UC Davis as the head coach of the freshman team; he later became the wide receivers coach with the varsity squad. After a brief stint at Pittsburgh and Portland State as the quarterbacks coach, Petersen landed his first big job at Oregon as the receivers coach in 1995.

Friday update: ESPN’s Joe Schad reports Petersen to Washington is likely. Washington has offered to make him “one of the highest-paid coaches in the Pac-12,” according to the Seattle Times. Petersen currently makes about $2.1 million at Boise State. Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, who makes about $2.5 million, is listed as the highest-paid Pac-12 coach in USA Today’s salary database. Considering we don’t know how much new USC coach Steve Sarkisian makes and David Shaw’s Stanford contract is private, it would likely only take a boost into the $2.6 million range to meet that mark.

Boise State fans are kind of freaking out.

Update: UCLA has announced the deal is done.

UCLA head coach Jim Mora will remain with the Bruins, taking him out of the mix for the opening at Washington, according to Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports. Earlier Tuesday, Mora and his staff were on the recruiting trail and mum on the Huskies’ job, per Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee.

Shortly after word broke that Sarkisian has headed back to SoCal, speculation began over who would be the next head coach in Seattle. It’s an attractive job, featuring a newly renovated stadium, the city of Seattle, and a decent recruiting base. Here’s a look at some of the top candidates.

A former UW player himself, Mora has strong ties to the Washington area, working as a graduate assistant for the program early in the ‘80s and later coaching with the Seahawks as well.

Current UCLA head coach Jim Mora could be close to deciding on whether or not to accept the vacant coaching position at Washington.

According to Scott Roussell of Football Scoop, Mora is meeting with UW athletic director Scott Woodward Monday night, though apparently not in person, as he’s still in California.