Chris Petersen Media Day Interview Part 3

With you running a hurry-up no-huddle at Boise State, will you continue to do that at Washington?

Yeah, so we were no-huddle last year at Boise, so that style, we're used to, they're used to. We'll do some of that. We'll huddle up on occasion and do some different things.

What did Cyler tell you about the incident? Was there anything that wasn't presented correctly in the media?

I don't know exactly what was presented in the media. I just know he made a mistake. He owned up to it. Did everything right as we moved forward. You know, he's going to get a second chance.

Did he have to sell you on that? When you heard about it, it was pretty odd. Were you pretty worked up or pretty angry?

I would say the fact that he didn't have one day in spring football or one meeting probably sent a pretty strong message to him. But throughout that process and moving forward, he did everything correctly. So we're just hoping, and I think he will be a better person, a better teammate, a better everything for it and for going through it. Guys make mistakes. The most important thing is to learn from them and do right moving forward.

So he's behind the 8-ball?

Yeah, we've got to figure out our quarterback situation starting with Troy and Jeff, and how Cyler factors in there, so that will be interesting. That's part of the challenge and fun of the job. You've got to have a quarterback that's playing at a high level or that whole offense will struggle.

Have you ever considered playing a true freshman at quarterback, even at Boise State? If so, do you think K.J. Carta-Samuels could start?

We'll see what he can do. It's such a hard position. But we'll give all four of those guys a shot to see what they can do. You hate to throw anybody to the wolves, certainly a young guy, but we'll see how he does.

Have you had any conversations with [former USC coach] Steve Sarkisian on personnel?

No, not one time. I think it's better for the kids. Everybody has their own opinion, and everybody gets biased, so I just don't ask the question.

Can you talk about the depth on the D-line or just something that you kind of left spring feeling particularly good about?

No, I just kind of felt like this off-season from after spring ball to where we are now is getting really, really important for those guys in the weight room and our conditioning program is going to be really important, and I think they've done a really nice job with that. Now I think it's really important this next thing with the fall camp and scheme-wise and how they practice. Kind of got the basis of how we did in the spring, and for us to take that next step everything is so critical. We can have no wasted time or days because we're so new. Nobody else is doing the Pac-12 but us. So we're truly behind the eight ball. Kind of one segment at a time. I think they've done a nice job since spring ball. Anxious to get all in here with them soon.

Have you spoken to any of your coaches in in the business about transitioning to another program and growing pains that you have. You're a first year head coach a time before. But taking over a new program and trying to make that as seamless as possible? Not being gruelling and adjusting to new faces and new schemes?

No, you know, I think we were really confident in what our process of how we do things. So I think what the trick is to get everybody on the same page like, hey, this is how -- and really trick, it's a hard trick because everything is different. That's not right or wrong with the whole staff. It's just we know our way.

So we do it the way that we know so we're getting players, administrators, everybody on the same page then they've got to buy in and do it the right way. So it's a double-edged sword. You have to educate everybody on this is what it looks like and this is why and get them motivated and excited about doing it this way.

Is there a process that kind of works that way? Would you not have done it?

I didn't go down that path.