5 dream coaching candidates to replace James Franklin if he’s fired
By Josh Yourish
Chris Peterson
2019 was Peterson’s final season at Washington and the last time he coached college football. He stepped away just three years removed from a 12-win season in which he accomplished the one thing James Franklin has yet to do. He made it to the college football playoff.
Peterson’s Huskies were the 4-seed and got beat 24-7 by Alabama, but at least he took a team to the final four. Washington was actually the team that kept two-loss Big 10 champ Penn State out. Peterson finished with double-digit wins in three of his six years as the head man at Washington.
It could be tough to pull him back into the college football world, especially with everything that has changed with the transfer portal and NIL. That would be a big adjustment, and so would recruiting a completely different part of the country, but Peterson has the pedigree and maybe with Penn State’s resources and recruiting base he could excel in the Big 10.