Tony Petersen Tony Petersen ( born October 9 , 1966 in Lodi , California ) is the offensive coordinator for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team . Petersen played football at Marshall University where he set 16 Southern Conference single - season and career records in passing and total offense , to go along with six Marshall single - season school marks . Playing career . Petersen went to Marshall University after a stellar career at Delta Community College in Stockton , California . He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals after his first season at Delta C . C . As a football player at Marshall , Petersen was named the 1988 Southern Conference Athlete of the Year and the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 1987 . Petersen set 16 Southern Conference single - season and career records in passing and total offense , to go along with six Marshall single - season school marks . He threw a record 35 touchdown passes in 1987 . Petersen also set NCAA records for most passes in a game without an interception ( 68 ) and for most regular season games ( 11 ) with more than 200 yards passing . Peterson also played on the Herd ' s baseball team . Coaching career . First stint at Marshall . After being a free agent signee to the Minnesota Vikings in 1989 , Petersen started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Kentucky Wildcats football team in 1990 . A year later Petersen ' s eight seasons at Marshall got started ( 1991 – 1998 ) , the Thundering Herd qualified for the postseason eight straight times , winning national championships in 1992 and 1996 and Mid - American Conference titles in both 1997 and 1998 . Peterson served as wide receivers coach in 1992 and helped in the development of future three - time Super Bowl Champion Troy Brown . Peterson served as quarterbacks coach for five of his previous eight years at MU and worked as the offensive coordinator in 1998 . In that capacity , he coached future NFL quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich . Minnesota . During Petersen ' s eight seasons at the University of Minnesota ( 1999 – 2006 ) , Petersen served as co - offensive coordinator , quarterbacks coach and eventually the passing coordinator for the Golden Gophers . Quarterback Bryan Cupito set the new all - time leading passing mark under Petersen . In 2006 , the Gophers had a 2 , 000 - yard passer for a fifth straight year , a school record . Petersen also played a crucial role in the progress of Asad Abdul - Khaliq at Minnesota as the quarterback rewrote the Gophers ' record books . Iowa State . Petersen spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons as the Quarterbacks coach for the Iowa State Cyclones football team . Under Petersen , Iowa State quarterback Bret Meyer finished his Cyclone career in 2007 with school record totals for passing yards and total offense . Second stint at Marshall . After spending the 2009 season as the associate head coach for the University of South Dakota . Petersen was hired as assistant head coach , co - offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach by Marshall head coach Doc Holliday in January 2010 . Personal life . Petersen earned his bachelor ' s degree in 1988 and master ' s degree in 1995 , both from Marshall . He and his wife Beth have three children : Andy , Nikki , Nelson , and Taylor .