Washington Football: Why Chris Petersen’s extension makes sense

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Washington football just signed Chris Petersen to an extension that will pay him an average of nearly $5 million a year. Here’s why the Huskies made the right move.

Last season, Chris Petersen guided the Washington Huskies to their first Pac-12 title in the 21st century. It was also the school’s first outright conference title since winning a share of the national championship in 1991. They made their way to the College Football Playoff after a 12-1 finish in the regular season. And while they lost to Alabama 24-7 in the Peach Bowl semifinal, the future looks bright for Washington.

The future looks even brighter after the school locked up Petersen to a contract extension on Monday that keeps the coach in Seattle through 2023. As originally reported by Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel, the contract will guarantee Petersen an average of $4.875 million per season over the next seven seasons.

This marks a 35 percent increase from his $3.6 million base salary from the past two seasons. It is also a significant bump in the $4.0 million he was due in 2017 and 2018. Whereas Petersen was ranked 25th in payment from his school last year, he will now move into the top ten of FBS coaches’ salaries. He is now the undisputed highest-paid coach in the Pac-12, and Petersen’s new pay scale puts him the same range as SEC coaches like Kevin Sumlin, Gus Malzahn, and Hugh Freeze.

The question many will soon ask themselves, when the dust settles and the numbers shake out, is simple. Was this a smart move by Washington as they try to maintain the momentum from last year’s championship season?

The simple answer? Of course this was a great move. But that is a little too simple. So let’s look at three reasons why Petersen is well worth the reworked deal for Washington.