It's hard for many who watched the reclusive yet successful Chris Petersen during his time as the football coach at Boise State University.

Chris Petersen from Boise to Fox Sports

Most Bronco fans thought Petersen was a football lifer coaching, if not in Boise forever, then at the University of Washington. Petersen is the only coach in the Pac-12 to get a team from the conference into the college football playoff. He led the Huskies to the conference championship in 2016 and 2018.  

And then, without warning, Petersen was gone. One of college football's most successful coaches retired. He later admitted to the Wall Street Journal that he was burned out. The pace of recruiting young men had caught up with him. He acknowledged that his life was out of balance because of the coaching demands. The former coach explained his move to the Journal.

“This time that I’ve had, to be away and do a lot of reading and research and writing and talking to a bunch of different people has been so healthy,” he says. “You get a lot of clarity.”

“I’ve been doing this 30-plus years without any sort of break,” Petersen says. “That can be unhealthy. Even if it’s not unhealthy, it’s hard to stay at the top of your game, because of all the fires you’re always trying to put out, and you’re trying to evolve yourself, and all those type of things.”

Petersen would continue at Washington working with the business department. Would we ever see Chris Petersen again? To the surprise of most Petersen watchers, the reclusive coach is now working for Fox Sports as part of their college football coverage. Petersen now appears on the Fox pre and post-game show as well as other shows on FS1.  You can watch his interaction with Colin Cowherd below.