Five touchdowns. 390 receiving yards.  A state championship. After his senior football season ended at Prosper High School in 2009, Chase Petersen went off to college. He found himself back in Prosper four years later — this time on the sideline of the field, coaching defense.

After graduating from Prosper, assistant coach Chase Petersen is now in his eighth year of coaching in the district, with four being at Reynolds Middle School and four at Prosper High School, specializing in football, track and field.

“My family originally moved to Prosper in the summer of 2007,” Petersen said. “My dad got a new job, so we moved in the summer before my junior year of high school.”

Petersen began playing football for the school as a wide receiver his junior year and continued for his senior year, when the team won the 2008 3A Division I State Championship. He attended the University of North Texas next, and graduated with a bachelor of science in kinesiology.

“I always knew that after I went to college that I wanted to be a coach,” Petersen said. “I had hoped that I would coach or teach at Prosper after I graduated from here. When I graduated from college, my high school coach was still here, so I was hopeful, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to.”

Petersen began his career at Reynolds Middle School in 2013, where he taught computer literacy while being a coach in the athletics program. He then moved up to the high school in 2017.

“He brings a wealth of knowledge from a scheme standpoint, as well as fundamentals,” head football coach Brandon Schmidt said. “He is a tireless worker that is always trying to contribute to our staff.”

According to Schmidt, Petersen also takes “extra effort and time to help players to reach their full potential.” Junior Carson McClendon, who plays safety for the varsity team, agreed.

“Coach Petersen expects the best of us, and he pushes us all the time because he knows our maximum potential,” McClendon said. “He makes things easy on us, and helps us to know what to do because he simplifies it for us.”

Petersen said he enjoys many aspects of coaching, but he said he also enjoys the connections he creates with the athletes.

“My favorite part of coaching is the relationships I have with the students and athletes,” Petersen said. “I love getting to know them, and getting to lead them and help them hopefully become better people and young men.”