 Peterson with the Atlanta Falcons in 2009 | |||||||||||||||
| Florida Gators | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Outside linebackers coach | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1976-06-17)June 17, 1976 (age 48) Gainesville, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 226 lb (103 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Santa Fe (Alachua, Florida) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Florida | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1999: 2nd round, 36th pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Porter Michael Peterson (born June 17, 1976) is anAmerican football coach and former player. He is currently the outside linebackers coach at theUniversity of Florida. He most recently was the outside linebackers coach at theUniversity of South Carolina. Peterson playedcollege football for theFlorida Gators, where he was a member of a national championship team and earned first-teamAll-American honors. He was a second-round pick in the1999 NFL draft and played professionally for thirteen seasons with theIndianapolis Colts,Jacksonville Jaguars andAtlanta Falcons of theNational Football League (NFL). He is the older brother of formerChicago Bears running backAdrian Peterson
Peterson was born inGainesville, Florida in 1976.[1] He attendedSanta Fe High School in nearbyAlachua, Florida,[2] where he played for the Santa Fe Raiders high school football team.
Peterson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend theUniversity of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, and played for coachSteve Spurrier'sFlorida Gators football team from1995 to1998.[3][4][5] He was a member of the1996 Gators team that finished 12–1 and won theBowl Alliance national championship by defeating the top-rankedFlorida State Seminoles 52–20 in theSugar Bowl. Peterson started twenty-four of forty-two games in which he played, posted 249 tackles, three forced fumbles, thirteen tackles for a loss and 8.5 sacks.[3] As a senior team captain in 1998, he was a first-teamAll-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection and a first-team All-American, and was selected as the Gators' most valuable player by his teammates.[3][4][5]
Peterson was inducted into theUniversity of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2011.[6][7][4][5]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft1+1⁄2 in (1.87 m) | 233 lb (106 kg) | 31+1⁄4 in (0.79 m) | 9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 4.47 s | 1.56 s | 2.60 s | 4.08 s | 36.0 in (0.91 m) | 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) | 18 reps | ||
| All values fromNFL Combine[8] | ||||||||||||
TheIndianapolis Colts selected Peterson in the second round (36th overall) of the1999 NFL draft.[9] The Colts acquired the pick from theSt. Louis Rams in exchange forMarshall Faulk.[10]
He played for the Colts for four seasons from1999 to2002.[11] Peterson also played for theJacksonville Jaguars for the six seasons from2003 to2008 when he and coachJack del Rio had a verbal altercation during a team meeting.[12]
Peterson played for theAtlanta Falcons from2009 to2012.[11] On March 13, 2012, he became an unrestricted free agent,[13] but re-signed with the Falcons on July 23, 2012. Peterson again became an unrestricted free agent in 2013.[14]
Upon retirement from the NFL, Peterson returned to the University of Florida in 2013 to complete his undergraduate degree.[4] He first worked as an undergraduate assistant coach on the Gators strength and conditioning staff then took over as its coordinator in 2014 after graduating.[4][5]
In 2016, Peterson was hired as outside linebackers coach onWill Muschamp's staff atSouth Carolina.[4][5]
On January 5, 2022, Peterson was hired as outside linebackers coach onBilly Napier's staff atFlorida.
Peterson is the older brother of formerChicago Bearsrunning backAdrian Peterson and cousin of former NFL wide receiverFreddie Solomon.[5] Peterson is married to his wife Chantal and they have two sons: Mike Jr. and Gavin.[4][5]
Peterson and his wife established the Mike Peterson Foundation in 2004. The foundation was constituted in an attempt to support and benefit under-served youth and socio-economically challenged families in Peterson's hometown ofAlachua, Florida and his NFL cities ofJacksonville andAtlanta. Since its inception, the Mike Peterson Foundation has already served over 15,000 youth and families through several community events and programs, most notably the Top Dog Readers Club literacy program at the Grove Park Elementary School in Atlanta.[4]