The Gophers football team named Tony Peterson the new quarterbacks coach Monday.
Peterson, who served as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Marshall last year, replaces Steve Axman, who left last week to take the offensive coordinator job at Washington. Peterson had been with Marshall since 1991, coaching such NFL players as Randy Moss of the Minnesota Vikings and Troy Brown of the New England Patriots.
“Tony’s track record speaks for itself,” Gophers coach Glen Mason said. “He is an outstanding football coach who will be a fine addition to our staff.”
Peterson, an alum of Marshall, was a star quarterback with the Thundering Herd, setting 16 Southern Conference records in passing and total offense. His NCAA records for most passes in a game without an interception (68) and for most regular season games (11) with over 200 yards passing still stand.
Peterson was named the 1988 Southern Conference athlete of the year and the 1987 conference offensive player of the year. As the team’s quarterbacks coach, he developed current Marshall star Chad Pennington, who averaged 434.3 yards per game in total offense.
The Gophers are hoping for similar results in Peterson’s development of quarterbacks Billy Cockerham and Andy Persby, who are entering their senior and junior years, respectively. Minnesota ranked seventh in passing in the Big Ten, averaging 171.1 yards per game.
Peterson joins former college teammate Mark Snyder, now a defensive ends coach at Minnesota, on the Gophers’ staff. The hiring of Peterson leaves the running backs coach position, formerly held by Reggie Mitchell, the only vacant spot to be filled.

Men’s swimming and diving championships to be broadcast on the Web
The Men’s Big Ten swimming and diving championships, which start this week in Bloomington, Ind., will be broadcast live via the internet. Fans can go to www.gophersports.com to access the live web broadcast.
The broadcast is intended to allow people unable to make it to the meet to follow the action, and will be archived so competing athletes can access their performances from a computer.
The broadcast can only be accessed by computers with RealPlayer, which can be downloaded at www.realplayer.com.