Chris Petersen and Burnout

I’ve been fighting to keep my head above water after the Thanksgiving break. I’m buried in to-dos, meetings, emails, and new employee trainings.

It’s been interesting to see how my writing and habits suffer during these stressful times. I missed a blog post yesterday and I just reread my last post from the day before. It was clear my mind was elsewhere and I was fighting to get words down.

It’s not rocket science that people typically do their best work when they’re in good mental states.

The news of Chris Petersen stepping down as head coach of the University of Washington football team may be a perfect example of this. The Huskies were coming off their worst year in the last 3 years and this season is arguably Petersen’s most disappointing one given the talent on the team.

Coach Pete cited that he needed a break from football. It was clear that the toll of being a football coach for the last 30+ years really hit him.

There’s many reasons why the Huskies underachieved this year, but it’s hard to imagine that a burnt out head coach wasn’t one of the reasons. The season took a toll on Petersen and he no longer had the energy.

I look forward to writing more about Chris Petersen, his program, and legacy as there’s so many parallels to draw in the business world. He was an amazing coach, individual, and leader. I couldn’t imagine a better person to lead my alma mater’s team for the past 6 years.