Pettas Named Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach
February 11, 2002 | Football
Feb. 11, 2002
Head football coach John L. Smith announced this afternoon that John Pettas, a 25-year veteran of the coaching ranks, will be at the controls of the University of Louisville's offense as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Pettas, who replaces Scott Linehan as the Cards' offensive coordinator, comes to Louisville after a one-year stint as wide receivers coach at the University of Washington. Under the tutelage of Pettas at Washington, wideout Reggie Williams earned Co-Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors after pulling down 55 balls for 973 yards and three touchdowns in 2001.
Prior to Washington, Pettas spent five seasons at Arizona State where he saw time as both running backs and quarterbacks coach before being promoted to the offensive coordinator position prior to the 2000 season. Pettas spent one season as the Sun Devils' offensive coordinator before he was left without a job when head coach Bruce Snyder was fired.
Under Pettas, the Sun Devils led the Pac-10 in passing yards per game with 266.8, and finished fifth in the league in scoring at 26.9 points per game. Three members of the Sun Devils' offense earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors, including All-American tight end Todd Heap.
In 1996, Pettas coached first-team All-Pac-10 Conference quarterback Jake "The Snake" Plummer. Plummer earned All-America accolades in '96 and finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
In 1995, Pettas coached a stable of running backs that registered almost 2,000 yards - 1,912 to be exact. Senior tailback Chris Hopkins led the way with 646 while sophomore Michael Martin tallied 566. Sophomore Terry Battle added 474.
Pettas, who was the quarterbacks and kickers coach at The University of the Pacific in 1994, would have been the offensive coordinator in 1995, but went to ASU. The Tigers posted a 6-5 won-loss record in 1994, their best record in 17 years.
Pettas followed former ASU assistant Lyle Setencich to Pacific from Cal Poly SLO, where Setencich was the head coach. He served as the offensive coordinator at Cal Poly and also served as coach of the quarterbacks, wide receivers and kickers. In 1992-93, Pettas served as a coaches' assistant on defense for the San Francisco 49ers.
Pettas has also served as the offensive coordinator at Kent State University (1990-92), as the running backs, kickers and special teams coach at the University of New Mexico (1988-90) and as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at the University of Nevada (1978-88) where he spent time forming a long-lasting relationship with Louisville head coach John L. Smith.
At Kent State, Pettas also coached quarterbacks, running backs and kickers. At Nevada he also coached running backs, kickers and special teams. Nevada played in the 1978, '79, '83, '85 and '86 I-AA National Championship Playoffs. The 1978 and '86 teams led the nation in scoring offense and the '86 squad led the country in total offense.
From 1975 through 1978, Pettas was a graduate assistant and head freshmen coach at the University of Colorado. Prior, he had served as the offensive coordinator and head freshman baseball coach at Gonzales Union High School in Salinas, Calif. (1974-75). He also was a graduate assistant for quarterbacks at Cal Poly SLO in 1973.
A 1974 graduate of Cal Poly SLO, Pettas quarterbacked the 1971 and 1972 Mustang teams. He helped guide them to an 8-1-1 record and an appearance in the Camelia Bowl in '72. As captain of that squad, Pettas earned all-West Coast Conference honorable mention honors. The 1969 graduate of Monterey (Calif.) High School earned a master's degree in physical education from Colorado. He and his wife Lynn have two children, Amanda (11) and Mallory (9).
Born: January 3, 1951 in Monterey, Calif.
High School Education: Monterey High School, Monterey, Calif., 1969
College Education: California Polytechnic-SLO, 1974, Master's Degree, University of Colorado, 1977
College Football: California Poly-SLO, 1971-72
Coaching Career: Cal Poly-SLO, 1973-74, Gonzales High School, Salinas, Calif., 1974-75, University of Colorado, 1975-78, University of Nevada, 1978-88, University of New Mexico, 1988-90, Kent State University, 1990-92, San Francisco 49ers, 1992-93, Cal Poly-SLO, 1993-94, University of the Pacific, 1994, Arizona State University, 1993-2000, University of Washington, 2001, University of Louisville, 2002-
Family: Wife Lynn Pettas and daughters Amanda and Mallory
