Petersen Added To Football Staff As Offensive Coordinator

NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head coach Brock Spack has added a veteran presence to his offensive coaching staff, as he announced the hiring of Tony Petersen as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for Redbird Football on Tuesday.

"I've known Tony for a while from his time working at Minnesota while I was a Purdue and he brings a wealth of experience to our offensive staff," Spack said. "He has done it all, as a national-championship winning coach in the FCS and at various levels of college football. I think those experiences will aid him in mentoring our players and staff as we move forward and look to get back to the playoffs and competing for championships."

Petersen has directed some of the nation's most exciting and prolific offenses during his 30-year college coaching career, serving as an offensive coordinator in the Big Ten, MAC, Conference USA, American and Sun Belt conferences and most recently spent the 2021 season as offensive coordinator at Illinois.

Prior to his time with the Illini, Petersen spent the 2020 season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Appalachian State, when the Mountaineers finished 9-3 overall with a Myrtle Beach Bowl victory over North Texas on December 21. App State averaged 452 yards in total offense (26th nationally), including 264.9 rushing yards (7th nationally), on the season.

Petersen spent the 2019 season as an offensive analyst at Missouri after three-year stints coordinating successful offenses at Marshall (2010-12), Louisiana Tech (2013-15) and East Carolina (2016-18). In total, he has helped lead his teams to 12 bowl games, seven conference championships and two FCS national championships throughout his coaching career.

"I'm excited to join the staff here at Illinois State and work with Coach Spack and the rest of our talented coaches, staff and student-athletes," Petersen said. "I played and coached at the FCS level when I was at Marshall and had some of the best experiences of my career. I love being in the playoffs and having the opportunity to win a National Championship each year, and Illinois State has proven to be one of those teams that can make long runs in the playoffs and compete for titles each season in one of the best leagues in the country." 

A record-setting quarterback himself at Marshall, Petersen went on to coach two different stints at his alma mater from 1991-99 and again from 2010-12. During his first stint, the Thundering Herd qualified for the postseason eight straight times, winning FCS national titles in 1992 and 1996 and Mid-American Conference titles in both 1997 and 1998 after the school moved up to the FBS level.
 
As a player at Marshall, Petersen was named the 1988 Southern Conference Athlete of the Year and the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year in 1987 after leading the Herd to the Division I-AA national championship game with a school-record 35 touchdown passes. He set 16 SoCon single-season and career standards in passing and total offense to go along with six Marshall single-season school marks before signing with the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent in 1989 and then entering the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 1990.
 
Petersen went to Marshall after a stellar career at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif. A native of Lodi, Calif., he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the Major League Baseball Draft after his first year at Delta.
 
He earned his bachelor's degree in sports management and marketing in 1990 and master's degree in administration in 1995, both from Marshall. Petersen and his wife, Beth, have three children: Andy, Nikki Nelson and Taylor.

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