E.J. Peterson and his wife used to keep a shoebox in their closet with money. Peterson, who wasn’t making much money as a graduate assistant for the Grand View football team during the summer of 2018, spent several months working odd jobs. Whenever he got paid, they’d stash money in the shoebox to use for groceries later in the fall.
“You put it in the bank and then all of a sudden, you’re spending it on whatever and you want to be pretty direct with ‘All right, this is what we’re saving this money for,'” Peterson said.
Those early career sacrifices are paying off for Peterson. The first-year Grand View football coach has led the Vikings to an undefeated season. Now the former Vikings star, who has risen from that role as a graduate assistant, has his team in the postseason where they’ll host an NAIA FCS quarterfinal matchup with Lindsey Wilson on Dec. 6 at Mediacom Stadium in Des Moines at noon.
“I’m very fortunate to be in this spot,” Peterson said.
Peterson certainly is. It has taken a lot of time, a lot of sacrifice and a lot of hard work to get where he wanted to go, being back in Des Moines coaching at Grand View.
Peterson gives up a full-time job to come back to Grand View
Peterson has always been a hard worker. He grew up in Monroe, Iowa, working at a local grocery store owned by his dad Pete and mom Priscilla. He ventured into the store after school and stocked shelves, loaded trucks, ran a register and even worked in the meat department when he got old enough.
Peterson closely watched his parents put in long hours, often staying late to do inventory and sometimes having to come into the store in the middle of the night if the alarm went off. He logged long days of his own, working there as soon as he could reach the shelves right up to high school and college. When others took holidays off, Peterson worked.
“There were no set hours,” Peterson said.
It taught him about hard work and discipline, both things he used on the football field. Peterson, who played at PCM High School in Monroe, went off to Iowa Central Community College where he was discovered by Joe Woodley, then an assistant coach at Grand View.
Peterson was playing on a team that had a pair of other strong linebackers ahead of him but still stood out. Woodley liked his energy, effort and football I.Q. That was the type of player Woodley and his dad Mike, the Vikings’ head coach at the time, were looking for as they got the program at Grand View started.
The team was still in its early stages and Joe Woodley figured a hard-working kid like Peterson would be the perfect type of person to help them create a strong culture. Woodley also envisioned Peterson playing a promising role on the field.
“I just knew he was going to be a program-changing kid,” Woodley said.
Woodley was right. With Peterson anchoring Grand View’s defense, the Vikings won six games during the 2010 season, just their third in existence. Peterson was a big reason why, earning All-American and conference defensive player of the year honors.
Grand View had just as big of an impact on him. During his time with the Vikings, Peterson fell in love with Grand View and the people in the athletics department and around the school. After having such a huge helping hand in build the program up, it became a second home to him, being only 30 minutes away from where his parents lived.
“I think it’s the people that bring you back here and knowing that you’re around a bunch of people that care about what they do,” Peterson said.
The connection was so strong that right after college, Woodley helped Peterson transition into a coach after a brief stint playing for the Iowa Barnstormers. Woodley knew McPherson coach Pete Sterbick, who had previously worked at Grand View and helped Peterson get a job with the Kansas school.
Peterson started as a linebackers coach and strength and conditioning coordinator but eventually gained a promotion as the team’s defensive coordinator. Peterson loved the job. But coming back to Des Moines to work at his alma mater was always in the back of his mind. Grand View had been an important part of his life and with the program continuing its ascension as a powerhouse in NAIA football, he wanted to be part of it.
Woodley understood. So, one day in 2018, he called the former Vikings star and offered him a job. Woodley was set to inherit the program from his dad at some point. No one knew quite when. But if Peterson came back and proved himself, Woodley assured him he could have a spot on the coaching staff.
The only problem was there were no openings on the staff. So, Peterson would have to come back as a graduate assistant. That meant giving up his full-time job at McPherson, which had nice pay and benefits. To make matters more difficult, Peterson and his wife Abby had just found out she was pregnant with their first born.
“Sometimes you just have to kind of jump into something with both feet,” Peterson said.
The move wasn’t easy at first. The couple first moved in with his parents before landing on their feet and getting a house in Prairie City. Peterson said he was making less than $1,000 a month during his tenure as a graduate assistant.
So, he picked up odd jobs during the summer, working at a local lawn and tree company. He made some money working for Woodley’s brother Andy’s company, Signarama, digging holes and installing signs. The summer was the best time to earn extra cash.
Peterson’s job as a graduate assistant didn’t entail as many responsibilities during the summer as it did during the fall. Once the fall rolled around, he would be at the office and on the field non-stop. So, he and his wife saved as much money as they could to last them through the season and tossed it in the shoebox. It helped them make sure they had enough to buy food later that year.
“That just shows you what he was willing to do to be a football coach at Grand View,” Woodley said.
That wasn’t the only sacrifice Peterson was willing to make. The job itself was long and tedious. Peterson and another staffer were tucked away in a tiny office basically big enough to fit two computers. His responsibilities were endless, helping out with preparation before and after practice and even coaching during it.
Peterson didn’t know how long he’d have to work the long hours for low pay. But it was worth it to him, knowing there was a chance at a full-time job at Grand View.
“It was a little bit of a leap of faith,” Peterson said. “It was just something I felt strongly about.”
Peterson didn’t have to wait too long. After the 2018 season, Mike Woodley stepped down to start the football program at Mount Marty. Joe Woodley replaced him. He kept his promise to Peterson. Woodley had been impressed with Peterson’s work that one season and promoted him to the team’s defensive coordinator.
The Vikings defense flourished under his leadership. Peterson produced 10 defensive All-Americans, five Heart of America defensive players of the years and the program’s first Cliff Harris Award winner given annually to the top defensive player in small-college football.
During the team’s 2024 national championship run, The Vikings led the nation in total yards allowed (219.9 per game), passing yards (146.9), rushing yards (73) and points per game (8.4). The defense delivered 18 shutouts over six seasons. That same season, FootballScoop named him NAIA coordinator of the year.
“You could see it, the players really, really respond to him,” said Troy Plummer, Grand View’s vice president for athletics.
Peterson takes over the football program at Grand View
When Woodley took over the job at Drake in December of 2024, the first person Plummer spoke with was Peterson. Plummer knew how much Grand View meant to Peterson first as a player but now as a coach. With the Vikings coming off a national championship season, Plummer figured the natural thing to do was to look in-house.
So, the day after Christmas, Plummer rushed to his office and met with Peterson. The young coach explained how much Grand View meant to him and how the school had become home to him and his wife and their now two kids. Peterson explained how he planned to implement things he’d learned from both the Woodley coaches into his plan. It didn’t take Plummer long to realize that his next head coach was already there.
“I was even more confident that it was the right way to go,” Plummer said. “He gets it. He understands who we are and what it takes and it was the perfect fit.”
Peterson announced his hiring in a group chat to players, who celebrated his promotion. While many of the team’s top players could have gone looking for another program and found new homes, all of the team’s best players decided to stay at Grand View and play for Peterson.
“I couldn’t have thought of anybody that was more deserving of the opportunity than him,” Grand View offensive lineman Ryan Saddler said.
Peterson has continued to make the Vikings one of the most dominant teams in all of NAIA. The Vikings rolled through the regular season and beat their final two regular-season opponents by a combined score of 120-7. Grand View then beat Saint Francis 62-20 on a snow-filled field in the second round of the playoffs on Nov. 29.
Woodley has continued to watch what Peterson has done at Grand View as his replacement. He still understands how much love his former player has for the program. Woodley believes that’s why he’s done so well, so quickly.
“The success does not surprise me,” Woodley said.
Neither does the fact that Peterson is so happy. After all, he’s home, being back at the school where he’s now enshrined in the hall of fame. Peterson is so close to home that he has lunch with his dad every Wednesday.
While it seems like Peterson has finally made it to the top as the head coach for the team that is so important to him, he knows there’s still tons of work to do not only this season but in the future. He has his sights set on another championship and building the program even bigger.
Sustaining success at Grand View will always be important to him. That’s why he made the sacrifices he’s made over the year.
“For him to be leading that program right now, I think that moment’s kind of come full circle,” Woodley said.
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: E.J. Peterson’s financial sacrifices pay off for Grand View football
Reporting by Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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