Chris Petersen isn't leaving Boise. Despite speculation he might take the Stanford Cardinal job, Petersen firmly committed back to Boise St. Broncos yesterday, leaving the job wide open for a number of candidates to take a look at.

We can only speculate at this moment as to why Petersen didn't take the job. We'll guess that as the years pass and the winning keeps on piling up for Petersen, it's hard to imagine him ever leaving the Broncos for a decent but not strong team, even one as big as Stanford. Also, he's probably seen what departing coaches like Dan Hawkins and Dirk Koetter have done on the bigger stage, and figured it wouldn't be worth the resulting fall out if he comes up short.

Also, the interest in Stanford could have been a way Petersen to leverage his contract with Boise. Remember, Stanford is hardly an attractive site due to the lack of relative fan support, so don't count that out of the decision-making process. In Boise, Petersen is beloved; in Palo Alto, he'd be appreciated but hardly adored. In the end, the Cardinal are left searching for another coaching candidate.