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Huskies' head football coach Chris Petersen stepping down

Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images

SEATTLE — On Friday, Chris Petersen was cradling the Apple Cup trophy he's won in each of his six years as a UW head football coach. Today, he announced he is stepping down from his position.

"It's a shame to see him go. He's been such a great addition to our program. He's really been like an anchor for UW football," said freshman Madoc Hanley.

Petersen is the only head football coach most current students have seen during their time at the UW.

"I was kind of taken aback because I've heard really good things about him and he is a really good coach and he's been there for a bit, so," Radhika Hattangadi

Petersen explained his decision in this statement:

"It has been a privilege and a professional dream fulfilled to be part of this world-class institution... I'll be a Husky for life, but now is the right time for me to step away from my head coaching duties, and recharge."

Sports editor Alec Dietz, of The Daily, showed us the newly printed Apple Cup cover of the newspaper.

Dietz has covered Petersen closely for the past three years. He said it's not only that the team went just 7 and 5 this year.

"Even when they were making the Rose Bowl last year, the Fiesta Bowl two years ago he seemed just tired and more tired as his years at UW kind of waned on and especially this season with the losses," Dietz said.

Jimmy Lake, the current defensive coordinator, has been named the new head coach, UW Director of Athletics Jennifer Cohen said.

"He got elevated to defensive coordinator just a couple of years ago and he has a lot of success with recruiting, with turning guys into pros like, Budda Baker and Sidney Jones," Dietz said.

Petersen will remain on staff until after the Huskies' bowl game and will then transition into an advisory role for UW athletics.

He is stepping down with a career record of 146-38 after eight seasons at Boise State and six years at UW. In his time at UW, Petersen led the Huskies to two Pac-12 championships, the 2016 playoffs and three consecutive New Year's Six bowl games, a press release stated.

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