Chris Peace is in his second season with Utah State as a junior analyst for the defense and works primarily with the outside linebackers. The 2026 campaign will be his third year working for head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
In his first year at Utah State in 2025, Peace helped Utah State to a 6-7 record (4-4 Mountain West) and its 12th bowl game in the last 15 years. With Peace on staff, USU had six defenders earn All-MW honors as cornerback Noah Avinger and linebacker John Miller were both named to the first-team, while defensive tackle Gabriel Iniguez Jr., linebacker Bronson Olevao Jr., and safeties Brevin Hamblin and Ike Larsen were both named honorable mention. Avinger highlighted these honorees as he was named a HERO Sports Group of Five Second Team All-American.
Utah State had one defender honored by the MW during the season as Hamblin was named the MW Defensive Player of the Week following his performance against Nevada as he had a team-high eight tackles, including a career-high-tying 1.0 sacks and a season-high 1.5 tackles for loss, to go along with an interception he returned 38 yards for a touchdown. Hamblin also recovered a fumble in the red zone at the 1-yard line.
Defensively, Utah State forced 17 turnovers during the season with 13 interceptions and four fumbles and limited its opponents to just 17 points during the year following 11 Aggie turnovers.
Prior to Utah State, Peace coached at St. Anne Belfield High School in Charlottesville, Virginia, during the 2024 season under head coach Heath Miller, a former NFL tight end with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before that, he served as a graduate assistant at Virginia during the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Notable players that Peace coached during his time at Virginia include Mike Green, Elliott Brown and Nick Jackson. Green was the 2024 FBS leader in sacks and tackles for loss at Marshall, while Brown led the CFL in sacks this past year, and Jackson finished his career as the second-leading tackler in NCAA history.
Peace returned to the Cavalier program after signing as a free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers before the 2019 season. He made his NFL debut in the team’s 2019 season opener and played in each of the first four games before being picked up by the New York Giants, appearing in the last 12 games of the year during his rookie season. Peace spent the 2020 preseason with the Giants.
Peace played five years (2014-18) at Virginia, including his final three seasons under Mendenhall. As a senior, he made 65 tackles (11.5 for loss) and led all Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) linebackers with 7.5 sacks en route to receiving third-team All-ACC honors. It marked the second consecutive season he led ACC linebackers in sacks, recording 7.5 as a junior.
A native of Newport News, Virginia, Peace received his degree in American studies from Virginia in 2018. He has a son named Paris.