App State head football coachhas tabbed college coaching veteran Tony Petersen as offensive coordinator for the Mountaineers' nationally ranked program.Petersen has directed some of the nation's most exciting and prolific offenses during his 30-year college coaching career, serving as an offensive coordinator in the Big Ten, MAC, Conference USA and American prior to taking the reins of the offense in Boone."We are thrilled to welcome Tony and his family to App State," Clark said. "His experience speaks for itself with the success he's had as an offensive coordinator at several places. He is committed to a dynamic offensive attack and will help us continue to pursue championships and bowl games."Petersen spent the 2019 season as an offensive analyst at Missouri after three-year stints coordinating successful offenses at Marshall (2010-12), Louisiana Tech (2013-15) and East Carolina (2016-18)."I can't describe how fired up I am to get started at App State," Petersen said. "There is such a great football tradition here with great coaches throughout the years, and I'm excited to be a part of the App State family."Petersen has helped lead his teams to 12 bowl games, seven conference championships and two FCS national championships throughout his coaching career.A record-setting quarterback himself at Marshall, he went on to coach two different stints at his alma mater from 1991-99 and again from 2010-12. During his first stint, the Thundering Herd qualified for the postseason eight straight times, winning FCS national titles in 1992 and 1996 and Mid-American Conference titles in both 1997 and 1998 after the school moved up to the FBS level.Petersen served as wide receivers coach in 1992 and directly worked with eventual three-time Super Bowl Champion Troy Brown. Petersen coached quarterbacks for five of his eight years at Marshall and was offensive coordinator in 1998, mentoring future NFL quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich in that capacity. With future NFL star receiver Randy Moss as his favorite target in 1997, Pennington broke the NCAA record for touchdown passes by a sophomore with 39 and set a MAC record with 3,480 yards passing.During his three years at ECU's offensive coordinator, he directed some of the best offenses in school history and a top-20 passing offense in the country all three seasons. In 2016, the Pirates ranked sixth in passing and 23rd in total offense among all FBS teams.From an individual standpoint, Petersen played a key role helping Biletnikoff Award finalist Zay Jones capture 2016 FBS stat titles in receptions (158), receptions per game (13.2) and receiving yards per game (145.5), while ranking second in receiving yards (1,746) on the way to establishing NCAA career (399) and single-season standards in receptions. In 2017, Gardner Minshew set AAC and ECU single-game completion records with a 52-of-68, 463-yard outing at Houston.At Louisiana Tech, Petersen helped the Bulldogs achieve back-to-back nine-win seasons and a pair of bowl victories. He was a nominee for the 2015 Broyles Award after directing a Tech offense that was one of the best in school history and ranked 13th nationally in passing, 19th in scoring and 21st in total offense, while ranking highly in the Tech record books in both rushing and passing touchdowns. As Tech's quarterbacks coach, he molded senior transfer Jeff Driskel into one of the nation's top signal-callers with top-25 FBS rankings in eight different offensive categories in 2015.A year earlier in 2014, Petersen directed an offense that stood fifth at the FBS level in most-improved scoring offense (37.4 ppg) as the Bulldogs powered their way to a 9-5 overall record that included a C-USA West Division title and a 35-18 win over Illinois in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl.Petersen was Marshall's co-offensive coordinator for three seasons in the second of two stints at his alma mater. He mentored sophomore quarterback Rakeem Cato to an impressive 2012 campaign. The C-USA MVP led the nation in completions per game (33.83) and passing yards per game (350.08) and finished third in TD passes (37), fourth in completion percentage (69.5) and fifth in total offense per game (352.67). The Herd topped the league in scoring offense, passing offense, total offense, pass efficiency, third down conversions and first downs. In the latter two categories, Marshall ranked second nationally.Petersen spent the 2009 season as the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach at the University of South Dakota after serving as quarterbacks coach at Iowa State for two years. While with the Cyclones, quarterback Bret Meyer finished his ISU career in 2007 with school records in passing yards and total offense.From 1999 to 2006, Petersen was co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and eventually the passing coordinator at Minnesota, where quarterback Bryan Cupito set the school's all-time passing mark.As a player at Marshall, Petersen was named the 1988 Southern Conference Athlete of the Year and the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year in 1987 after leading the Herd to the Division I-AA national championship game with a school-record 35 touchdown passes. He set 16 SoCon single-season and career standards in passing and total offense to go along with six Marshall single-season school marks before signing with the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent in 1989 and then entering the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 1990.Petersen went to Marshall after a stellar career at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif. A native of Lodi, Calif., he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the Major League Baseball Draft after his first year at Delta.He earned his bachelor's degree in sports management and marketing in 1990 and master's degree in administration in 1995, both from Marshall.Petersen and his wife, Beth, have three children: Andy, Nikki Nelson and Taylor.