Tony Petersen

Anthony Robert Petersen After high school, Petersen attended San Joaquin Delta College in nearby Stockton. At San Joaquin Delta, Petersen played at quarterback on the football team in 1984 and 1985. Petersen also pitched on the San Joaquin Delta baseball team and was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 16th round of the January 1986 Major League Baseball Draft.

Petersen transferred to Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia in 1986. He shared starting duties at quarterback on the Marshall Thundering Herd in the 1986 season and started every game in 1987. As a senior in 1987, Petersen led Marshall to its first 10-win season in program history as he threw for 4,902 yards and 35 touchdowns. Petersen graduated from Marshall with a Bachelor of Arts in education in 1990.

Coaching career Kentucky graduate assistant and first stint at Marshall (1990–1998) After signing as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings in 1989, Petersen started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 1990 under Bill Curry.

Minnesota passing game and offensive coordinator (1999–2006) From 1999 to 2006, Petersen was an offensive assistant coach at Minnesota under Glen Mason. He was passing game coordinator in 1999 before serving as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2000 to 2006. Petersen coached record-breaking quarterbacks Bryan Cupito and Asad Abdul-Khaliq. Minnesota also appeared in five bowls including three consecutive wins, the 2002 Music City Bowl, 2003 Sun Bowl, and 2004 Music City Bowl.

Iowa State and South Dakota assistant (2007–2009) From 2007 to 2008, Petersen was quarterbacks coach at Iowa State under Gene Chizik, helping senior quarterback Bret Meyer set school record totals for passing yards and total offense.

Second stint at Marshall (2010–2012) Under Doc Holliday, Petersen began his second stint as Marshall assistant coach in 2010, as assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach. In 2012, Petersen coached sophomore quarterback Rakeem Cato, who would lead Division I FBS in completions per game (33.83) and become the first underclass winner of the Conference USA MVP award.

Later coaching career (2016–present) Petersen was offensive coordinator at East Carolina under Scottie Montgomery from 2016 to 2018.

In 2019, Petersen was an offensive analyst at Missouri under Barry Odom. Petersen returned to being an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the following year at Appalachian State under Shawn Clark. Following the 2022 season, Petersen was named the quarterback coach.

Following the 2025 season, Petersen was named the co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Northern Illinois.

Personal life Petersen is married with three children.