UCLA Offered Chris Petersen $4 Million Per Year

Boise State head coach Chris Petersen turned down the UCLA Bruins to be their head coach, and the initial report was that UCLA was offering $3 million per year. However, now it is coming out that UCLA was offering Petersen $4 million per year:

UCLA offered Petersen a contract that would have paid him nearly $4-million per season, plus nearly $3 million for assistant coaches. Petersen, who has a 71-6 record at Boise State, decided to remain at Boise State because of lifestyle reasons. He has turned down other universities in the past, including a $3-million offer from Stanford last year, for the same reasons.

Petersen must be extremely happy living in Boise, idaho to turn down over double his current salary. Over the past few years Petersen has not been interested in BCS schools advances such as Stanford last year and possibly others, but Petersen never takes the call when schools come calling. The only reason he listened to Stanford is because Petersen is a Northern California guy.

Turning down the UCLA job says to me that he is a lifer at Boise State, or just maybe he wants a program in a better position than UCLA. However, it is a tough job to turn down with the talent in the area, but the facilities are a joke compared to every other school in the Pac-12. Plus, making $1.5 million a year with a guaranteed raise to about $2 million is not a bad gig either with a shot at the BCS nearly every year.

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