Breaking Down the Candidates: Chris Petersen & Butch Jones

Our look at the potential candidates for next Louisville head coach continues today with Boise State head coach Chris Petersen and Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones. Like yesterday, we will take a look at the stats for each coach in their area of expertise and what their recruiting looks like. Keep in mind, these recruiting rankings are according to Rivals.com. Let’s do it.

Chris Petersen

Boise State head coach Chris Petersen

Petersen took over the Boise State job prior to the 2006 season when Dan Hawkins left for Colorado. All Petersen has done since is go 47-4, including their thrilling 2007 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma to complete his first season as head coach. The undefeated 2006 Boise State team was comprised almost entirely of Dan Hawkins’ players, but Petersen was offensive coordinator for Hawkins so he was responsible for some of those players getting to Boise.

However, we are looking at what Petersen’s recruiting looks like since he’s been head coach because he would be hired for that same position at Louisville, not as offensive coordinator. Here is what Chris Petersen’s recruiting has looked like since taking over the Boise State program:

2006 – 70th ranked class, 18 total, 0 five-star, 0 four-star, and 3 three-star recruits
2007 – 68th ranked class, 29 total, 0 five-star, 0 four-star, and 7 three-star recruits
2008 – 89th ranked class, 19 total, 0 five-star, 0 four-star, and 5 three-star recruits
2009 – 72nd ranked class, 21 total, 0 five-star, 0 four-star, and 11 three-star recruits
2010 (not yet completed) – 79th ranked class, 5 total, 0 five-star, 0 four-star, and 4 three-star recruits

Petersen is widely known for his offensive wizardry. Boise State is a favorite of ESPN because of their exciting offense and Petersen is largely responsible for that. Here is what the Boise State offense has looked like since Petersen became head coach:

2006 – 6th in rushing offense at 214.2 ypg, 52nd in passing offense at 206.5 ypg, and 2nd in scoring offense at 39.7  ppg
2007 – 33rd in rushing offense at 184.9 ypg, 23rd in passing offense at 282.5 ypg, and 4th in scoring offense at 42.4 ppg
2008 – 54th in rushing offense at 152.3 ypg, 13th in passing offense at 288.5 ypg, and 20th in scoring offense at 37.6 ppg
2009 – 24th in rushing offense at 189.3 ypg, 30th in passing offense at 264.2 ypg, and 2nd in scoring offense at 44.3 ppg

Butch Jones

Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones

Butch Jones became head coach of the Central Michigan Chippewas in 2007 after Brian Kelly left for Cincinnati. Jones has compiled a 26-13 record during his time as head coach. Jones is not always mentioned when talking about a possible replacement for Steve Kragthorpe, but he should be because he is on the radar.

Jones is trying to recruit kids to Mount Pleasant, Michigan and here’s how his recruiting has looked:

2007 – 88th ranked class, 16 total, 0 five-star, 0 four-star, and 1 three-star recruit
2008 – 107th ranked class, 22 total, 0 five-star, 0 four-star, and 1 three star recruit
2009 – 97th ranked class, 30 total, 0 five-star, 0 four-star, and 7 three-star recruits
2010 (not yet completed) – 84th ranked class, 15 total, 0 five-star, 0 four-star, and 4 three-star recruits

Butch Jones is also known as an offensive guy. He has coached under/with noted offensive coaches Rich Rodriguez and Brian Kelly, and Jones has carried many of those offensive philosophies into his offensive scheme. Here are the numbers for Central Michigan’s offense under Jones:

2007 – 36th in rushing offense at 180 ypg, 32nd in passing offense at 267 ypg, and 20th in scoring offense at 34.8 ppg
2008 – 72nd in rushing offense at 133.7 ypg, 12th in passing offense at 289.7 ypg, and 39th in scoring offense at 29.5 ppg
2009 – 41st in rushing offense at 176 ypg, 36th in passing offense at 244 ypg, and 14th in scoring offense at 34.3 ppg

There are the numbers, do with them what you will. Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and my personal favorite, if only because of his name, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall.