Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ST. GEORGE — When Paul Peterson left his alma mater Snow College after just one season (and an 8-3 record), he knew there would have to be a big opportunity presented to him.
Being named the head coach of Division II Dixie State back in December may have been part of that big opportunity.
But being the first Division I head coach in the school's history?
That was more like it.
"I knew they were going the right way," Peterson told KSL.com, adding that it was more a matter of "when" and not "if" the Trailblazers made the jump to Division I. "The way the president and (athletic director Jason) Boothe were talking about it, I knew it was going to happen — without them saying it. I knew it was going to be in the future, and I wanted to be a part of it."
Peterson will now be a part of that jump. The Trailblazers formally accepted an invitation from the Western Athletic Conference last Friday, becoming the league’s ninth overall member in 14 of 15 sports, with football launching as a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) independent.
Even there, Peterson is the man for the job to lead Utah’s second independent football team (BYU plays as an independent at the Football Bowl Subdivision level).
In time, Peterson is confident the Trailblazers will be competing with those programs around them. Even if they aren’t immediately as successful as the Cougars, Utes or Aggies, Southern Utah and Weber State represent natural geographic pairings for Dixie State to round out its schedule, as does Mountain West school UNLV, located a short two-hour bus ride away.
Add to it other Big Sky schools, like Northern Arizona and Idaho State, for example, and the Trailblazers' inaugural schedule may just be about making a few phone calls.
"I don't mean to pretend that it is going to be easy," said Boothe, the athletic director whose office will be in charge of making several new coaching and department personnel hires. "It's going to be a challenge. But it was going to be a challenge to raise the money we wanted to at Division II.
"In a way, this might be a little easier of a sell as a Division I."
In other words, it’s still work. But it’s good work, even on the football field, baseball diamond and softball field, where the Trailblazers have found success since joining Division II in 2007.
"We’ve got a lot of work to do," Peterson said. "We're a little behind in recruiting. But hopefully, this will help us to compete with the guys Weber State and SUU are recruiting. I think our location is great. Everyone wants to come to St. George in the springtime, and I think we can compete with all of them."
The Trailblazers will open their Division I campaign Sept. 5, 2020, at Southern Utah University.
Yes, the school where Peterson spent four years as passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach will be Dixie State’s inaugural Division I contest.
But between now and then, there is a lot of work to do.
It starts with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, a league in which the Trailblazers finished 7-3 in their inaugural season before former coach Shay McClure and his staff were not retained.
"They went 7-4 (overall) last year, and earned it. Hopefully we can build off that," said Peterson, a former Boston College quarterback who was also an offensive coordinator at Sacramento State. "They are teaching me; I haven’t played in this conference.
"It takes a lot of people to make sure we have a great 2019 season. It's my job to get them ready to go, and I’m excited about that."
The Trailblazers will create a traveling rivalry trophy with Utah Valley in WAC play, and are currently in negotiations with Weber State and Montana State to play in football, though dates have not been finalized, according to athletic department officials.
But the big move is just over a year away — right after one final season in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
And Peterson is confident he has the squad to help Dixie State blaze a new trail.
"In my opinion, St. George is the fastest growing city in the state," Peterson said, "and with that momentum, the sky's the limit here."
