Tony Petersen’s quarterbacks keep putting up big numbers. Under Petersen, Iowa State quarterback Bret Meyer finished his career last season with school-record totals for passing (9,499) and total offense (10,422). Petersen, who coached in nine bowl games at Minnesota and Marshall, has tutored a long list of record-setting quarterbacks. A former Marshall quarterback, he coached New York Jets signal-caller Chad Pennington there, and his quarterbacks at Minnesota set a slew of school records.
As co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and then passing game coordinator at Minnesota, Petersen engineered an offense that stood alone nationally over eight seasons, rushing and passing for more than 2,000 yards each year.
Petersen’s aerial game exploded in 2006 as the Gophers recorded 2,874 yards through the air, the second-highest total in school history. Under Petersen, Minnesota quarterback Bryan Cupito became the school’s all-time leading passer with 7,183 yards. The Gophers had a 2,000-yard passer for the fifth-straight season in 2006, another school record. Quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq (2000-03) rewrote the Minnesota record book during his four seasons.
During Petersen’s eight-year tenure at Marshall, the Thundering Herd made eight straight postseason appearances. Pennington was a finalist for the 1998 Davey O’Brien Award. Before Pennington, Petersen coached quarterback Todd Donnan to all-conference honors. As a quarterback at Marshall, Petersen was the conference player of the year in 1987.
