Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tony Petersen is leaving the the Marshall football program to become the offensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech.
Herald-Dispatch Columnist Chuck Landon first reported the news on Twitter Tuesday morning.
Petersen was instrumental in the maturation of second-year starting quarterback Rakeem Cato. During Cato’s sophomore campaign, he threw for 4,201 yards, 37 touchdowns and averaged 350 yards per game. Cato’s performance earned him Conference USA’s Most Valuable Player award and he was named First Team All-Conference.
Petersen’s name started to appear on the radar of programs looking for coaches following The Herd’s offensive explosion in 2012. The Herd had the top rated passing game in the country, averaging 365 yards passing per game. Marshall was sixth in the nation in total offense (534 yards/game) and seventh in scoring offense (40.9 points/game).
Petersen joins new Bulldogs Head Coach Skip Holtz who is taking over for Sonny Dykes, now the head coach at California.
The “turbo” type offense Marshall ran successfully this past season is the same type of scheme the Bulldogs used to go 9-3 in 2012. Louisiana Tech was third in the country in passing offense (350 yards/game), first in total offense (577.9 yards/game) and first in scoring offense (51.5 points/game).
Marshall will get the chance to defend Petersen’s offense in 2013. Louisiana Tech joins Conference USA this season leaving the WAC behind and will be on The Herd’s schedule. The Bulldogs finished 9-3 in 2012 but did not play in a bowl game. Louisiana Tech loses 31 seniors from its 2012 team, including Sammy Baugh Award winner Colby Cameron.