Illinois offensive coordinator Tony Petersen has a good history of working magic with quarterbacks in just one season.

In 2017, Petersen helped turn current Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew into a highly sought-after transfer after coordinating Minshew’s 2,140 passing yards and 16 touchdowns.

Two years prior, he helped reshape the career of Jeff Driskel at Louisiana Tech after things flamed out for him at Florida.

Now, Petersen is tasked with attempting to get the most out of Illinois’ super senior starting quarterback Brandon Peters. Peters has been the Illini’s starting quarterback for the last two seasons after transferring to Illinois from Michigan.

“I sat down with on the first day and said, ‘My job is to help you have the best year of your career and that’s it. If you listen to me and you listen to Coach Bielema, we can accomplish that and you can go out and have the best year of his career,’” Petersen said on Monday on his first conversation with his starting quarterback.

Peters, a former top-100 national recruit, has seen his career marked by inconsistency. He played in six games as a true freshman at Michigan, but eventually lost his starting job before the 2018 season when the Wolverines brought in transfer Shea Patterson.

In 2019, his first with Illinois, Peters looked like a good Big Ten quarterback in nonconference play, but then struggled in Big Ten games against Nebraska and Minnesota before helping lead a second-half comeback against Wisconsin.

Peters also excelled in the fourth quarter against Michigan State that season but wasn’t very good against Iowa and played a solid game against California in the Red Box Bowl.

Many thought the 2020 season could have been the culmination of Peter's career, but inconsistent play once again got the best of him. In five games, he had just a 48.8 percent completion rate and 429 yards with three touchdowns, and he really struggled in games against Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern, and Penn State.

Peters was officially named Illinois’ starting quarterback on Monday by head coach Bret Bielema, making him the first Illini quarterback to start the season opener three straight years for the first time since Wes Lunt in 2014-16.

Bielema and Petersen have publicly challenged their starting quarterback to become more vocal since the spring but have also given Peters votes of confidence privately and publicly throughout spring practices and in fall training camp.

“I have been in the NFL for three years and I would say he has that type of arm as far as a 10-yard out route to a 60-yard post,” Bielema said on Monday. “He has all the throws. It’s just about whether he can make them to the right person, at the right time, the right situation. He’s done a lot of good things; I give Tony a lot of credit and our players a lot of credit.”

Said Peters: “It feels good to have those supports. feel like Coach B and Coach Petersen really believe in me and what I bring to the table in this offense. Speaking up a little bit, coming out of my shell. It feels great.”

Petersen has seen his starting quarterback take command of the huddle and has seen him become more outspoken in meetings with the offense and the rest of the team. That’s all been a growing process that began in the spring and is continuing to develop as kickoff approaches on Saturday.

“His overall command of the huddle, trying to be that commander, leader out there, he’s not naturally that outspoken type of leader,” Petersen said. “But he’s working on it every day. He’s gotten a lot better at it, and I give him a lot of credit, he’s worked hard at it and gotten better.”

Peters is now on his third head coach in his college career and is on his fifth offensive coordinator. The constant transition in schemes packages hasn’t made it any easier for him to find consistent success. However, he’s hoping that this season will allow him to have his best college season yet.

“I want it to be the best year I’ve had yet,” Peters said. “I want to go out with a good feeling. I’m going to do whatever I’ve got to do to help the team win and on Saturday. It's about letting loose and executing.”

Putting the pieces together, so he can have the best season of his career started with a conversation with his offensive coordinator back in the spring and he’s been able to build upon the direction Petersen has for him.

“He kind of told me to approach it like I am a pro,” Peters said of his conversation with Petersen. “I have to be in the building a lot and take it really seriously and prepare like I’ve never prepared before. He’s pushed me that level.” --