Mike Peterson

Porter Michael Peterson (born June 17, 1976) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the outside linebackers coach at the University of Florida. He most recently was the outside linebackers coach at the University of South Carolina. Peterson played college football for the Florida Gators, where he was a member of a national championship team and earned first-team All-American honors. He was a second-round pick in the 1999 NFL draft and played professionally for thirteen seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He is the older brother of former Chicago Bears running back Adrian Peterson

Early life

Peterson was born in Gainesville, Florida in 1976. He attended Santa Fe High School in nearby Alachua, Florida, where he played for the Santa Fe Raiders high school football team.

College career

Peterson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, and played for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1995 to 1998. He was a member of the 1996 Gators team that finished 12–1 and won the Bowl Alliance national championship by defeating the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles 52–20 in the Sugar Bowl. Peterson started twenty-four of forty-two games in which he played, posted 249 tackles, three forced fumbles, thirteen tackles for a loss and 8.5 sacks.

The Indianapolis Colts selected Peterson in the second round (36th overall) of the 1999 NFL draft. The Colts acquired the pick from the St. Louis Rams in exchange for Marshall Faulk.

He played for the Colts for four seasons from to . Peterson also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars for the six seasons from to when he and coach Jack del Rio had a verbal altercation during a team meeting.

Peterson played for the Atlanta Falcons from to . but re-signed with the Falcons on July 23, 2012. Peterson again became an unrestricted free agent in 2013.

NFL awards and honors Second-team All-Pro (2005)

Coaching career

Upon retirement from the NFL, Peterson returned to the University of Florida in 2013 to complete his undergraduate degree. He first worked as an undergraduate assistant coach on the Gators strength and conditioning staff then took over as its coordinator in 2014 after graduating.

In 2016, Peterson was hired as outside linebackers coach on Will Muschamp's staff at South Carolina.

On January 5, 2022, Peterson was hired as outside linebackers coach on Billy Napier's staff at Florida.

Personal life

Peterson is the older brother of former Chicago Bears running back Adrian Peterson and cousin of former NFL wide receiver Freddie Solomon. Peterson is married to his wife Chantal and they have two sons: Mike Jr. and Gavin.

Peterson and his wife established the Mike Peterson Foundation in 2004. The foundation was constituted in an attempt to support and benefit under-served youth and socio-economically challenged families in Peterson's hometown of Alachua, Florida and his NFL cities of Jacksonville and Atlanta. Since its inception, the Mike Peterson Foundation has already served over 15,000 youth and families through several community events and programs, most notably the Top Dog Readers Club literacy program at the Grove Park Elementary School in Atlanta.