Jimbo Fisher's first comments on Texas A&M's hire of new OC Bobby Petrino
On Friday afternoon, Texas A&M football officially announced the hire of new offensive coordinator and play caller of the Aggies, Bobby Petrino.
Along with the announcement, head coach Jimbo Fisher gave his first comments on the hire.
“I am very happy to add Bobby as our offensive coordinator,” Fisher said. “I always had tremendous respect for him as a head coach, offensive coordinator and play caller. He is one of the best minds in college football. Bobby has a reputation for developing players and we are extremely excited to have him on our staff.”
Petrinos’s resume is strong
Petrino most recently served as the head coach at FCS Missouri State (2020-22) and also adds FBS level experience as the head coach at Louisville (2003-06, 2014-18), Western Kentucky (2013) and Arkansas (2008-11), compiling a 119-56 record through 14 seasons. He took 11 of the teams to bowl games and finished in the top 25 seven times, with three top-six finishes (2004, 2006, 2011). Petrino tutored 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.
The news of Petrino’s hire was first reported on Wednesday by ESPN, but Petrino himself confirmed the reports on Thursday, tweeting “It’s an honor to be back in the SEC and coaching in the great state of Texas.”
Before accepting the job in College Station, Petrino was originally headed to UNLV to work as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Bary Odom. Before accepting that role, he spent the last three seasons as the head coach of Missouri State.
The offensive coordinator position has been vacant since November 28, when Jimbo Fisher released Darrell Dickey from his duties. The process was certainly not a quiet one for fans as rumors ran rampant and speculation grew with each day.
Change was needed f
Darrell Dickey had served as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator since Fisher first took over in 2018, though his duties in terms of position changed going into 2022. After working with quarterbacks from 2018-21, Dickey moved over to the tight ends group this year.
Along with that move, Texas A&M shifted receivers coach Dameyune Craig over to the quarterbacks.
Things obviously didn’t go quite as expected.
Texas A&M’s offense finished ranked near the bottom of the country statistically in several categories: 82nd in passing offense (219.4 yards per game), 83rd in rushing offense (141.5 yards per game), 94th in total offense (360.9 yards per game) and 101st in scoring offense (22.8 points per game).